Know That I
by Whedonist
Summary: An old college friend of Cindy's comes to town and shakes things up.
1. She Promises a Show

Disclaimer: Not Mine. They belong to others. I promise to return them in good working order, just as I found them. This is also unbetad. Mistakes are all me even though I try super hard to catch them, mea cupla, mea cupla...

A/N: Written for Women's Murder Club Day.

* * *

**Ch. 1 – She Promises A Show**

The lower levels of the Hall were quiet today, no techs scurrying about, no cops running around or attorneys clacking and clomping by. For that, Cindy was thankful. It had been an annoying day at the Register. A day full of boring staff meetings and an obnoxiously long follow up meeting with her editor and absolutely no noteworthy events to report out on. The lack of activity around her and at the Register meant a few things for the reporter, Lindsay would be annoyed and Jill and Claire were a mixed bag. If Claire's staff didn't screw anything up, she knew her friend would be in a good mood and thankfully, nothing should interrupt her plans for tonight.

She stepped into the morgue unnoticed and noticed the lack of bodies on any of the tables. Her head tilted towards Claire's office where quiet laughter filtered out, the corner of her mouth quirked upwards at the distinct sound of Lindsay snickering. Adjusting the strap of her messenger bag, the reporter stepped through the open door and smiled at the group.

She crossed the space quickly and sunk down into the familiar cushions of her second favorite piece of furniture. "Hi," she greeted, slipping an arm around her girlfriend's waist to accept the kiss to the corner of her mouth as she snuggled in.

"Skipper," Claire greeted and eyed the reporter up, coming to only one conclusion. "You look a little tired."

"Boring, stupid day," Cindy griped. "We were all just sort of stuck in meetings all day." She gave a half-hearted shrug. "I expect some thin additions the next few days."

"So does that mean we're not going out…?" Lindsay tried to finish the question, but Cindy's index finger cut her off as it was pressed to her lips.

"Don't even think it," Cindy hissed. Straitening herself up, she eyed her girlfriend and warned, "Just because you were all sweet and cooked breakfast this morning, does not mean you're getting out of this."

"Oh," Jill giggled, "someone's laying down the law."

Cindy's gaze cut quickly from Lindsay to Jill to Claire and back to Lindsay who had the good graces to look a little embarrassed. The inspector pulled her girlfriend's hand away from her face and acquiesced, "Okay, we're going." She passed a look to Jill and Claire to amend, "We're all going, right?"

Claire nodded and Jill teased, "Yes, Lindsay, we're all going to meet Cindy's friend. So how old is she, twenty, twenty-one?"

Cindy laughed along with the group. She had gotten used to the light teasing that had only let up marginally over the last year. Even after her and Lindsay got together, they still teased her, but it did inevitably lead them to teasing Lindsay about robbing the cradle. "You're just jealous that I'll be wrinkle free longer," she teased Jill right back, sticking her tongue out for good measure.

"Hmm, hmm," Claire hummed. "And don't any of you forget it."

"So this 'friend' of yours who is she and what does she do?" Lindsay asked genuinely curious as this was the first time Cindy had ever introduced them to someone from her past; the primary reason for that being there wasn't anyone left in in the reporters past. At least anyone alive that Cindy felt the need to mention.

"Mac's an old college friend. We lost touch after she graduated, but apparently she's moving or has moved, I'm not quite sure of the details, to the city and found me on Facebook," the redhead explained.

There were three dubious heads shaking. Claire voiced what they were all thinking, "Evil social networking. It's exactly why I won't…"

"I know. I know…" Cindy interrupted. "If you wanted people from your past to find you, they would already know how to get a hold of you," she repeated the often heard mantra of the three. "Anyway, she'd been following my work on the Register and since she's moving to town thought it'd be nice to catch up."

"Uh-huh, that doesn't…" Lindsay started off.

"Linds," Jill groaned exasperatedly.

"Not everyone is evil," Claire teased lightly.

"Please just try to be on your best behavior?" Cindy clasped her hands together and sent large, watery eyes to Claire then Jill and finally to her girlfriend, knowing she'd be the one to be the least accommodating. The puppy dog face managed to get Cindy what she wanted when most everything else failed.

"Fine," Lindsay relented. "What's the game plan? Are we supposed to be meeting her for dinner or drinks later?"

Cindy bit her lip. "Well, see, we were talking today and she was finishing up unpacking and yelling at the movers. I told her just to meet us out front at six. She's not really picky and I wasn't sure what everyone would want and I thought well, why not just let it be a group decision." She had originally thought inviting her to Joe's but then she stopped because that was kind of the Club's place to meet. The one time Cindy brought a friend from work Lindsay sulked the through the entire meal. Needless to say, Cindy hadn't even thought of inviting anyone else until today.

"It's quarter till, why don't we head up?" Claire asked, causing the rest of the group to stand and follow the doctor out of her office.

* * *

Cindy stopped short as the group passed the metal detectors in the lobby of the Hall. Outside showed overcast sky, like it had been all day, but the rain had finally let loose and people that would normally be out on the steps were all hunched over waiting inside. Cindy scanned the meager group of people and spotted MacKenzie off to her right. Her friend's back was turned to them as she studied a Missing Person's board just inside the door.

Lindsay felt Cindy pull away as her reporter zeroed in on a figure turned away from them causing the rest of them to follow after the eager woman.

"Doggie Daddy?" Cindy called out garnering the woman's attention.

Cindy's friend spun around on the stem of her left boot heel, wearing a wide grin and silver framed glasses that set in front of soft aquamarine colored eyes. Both sets of arms flew open as Lindsay stopped short and watched Cindy embrace her old friend. It wasn't really an area of contention with them, neither of them really wanting to talk about people from their past, but Lindsay was curious.

"Augie!" the other woman called out and accepted the hug from Cindy.

"You're a little pathetic," Jill whispered in Lindsay's ear as they watched the reunion.

"Watch yourself, Boxer," Claire chided from her other side. "You keep smiling like that and you'll start to lose cred in the bullpen."

Lindsay's lips pursed and she shook her head at her friends, effectively wiping the smile from her lips. It wasn't her fault she enjoyed seeing Cindy happy and watching her girlfriend reunite with the woman with cinnamon colored skin certainly made Cindy happy.

Although it did leave one question to bubble forth, "Augie and Doggie Daddy?" Lindsay's head cocked to the side in thought trying to understand the nicknames.

"No clue," Jill and Claire answered at the same time.

"Come on," Cindy finally let go of MacKenzie and tugged her back towards the trio waiting behind them. "Mac," Cindy gripped her friends hand with her left as she pointed out the members of the Club, "this is Dr. Claire Washburn, Ins. Lindsay Boxer and D.D.A. Jill Bernhardt. Ladies, this is the reason why I'm actually at the Register, MacKenzie St. Hill."

"Hello," MacKenzie stuck her hand out in greeting, starting with Claire. "Cindy's filled me in on you, doctor. It's finally nice to meet you."

Claire smiled, not really being able to say much of the same and said, "It's nice to meet an old friend of Cindy's." The doctor assessed the woman before her in a pair of comfortably fitted jeans, cream colored scoop necked blouse and a dark brown leather jacket. MacKenzie's face was heart shaped with a build similar to her own. Her darker skin tone told the doctor she was mixed race, but the woman's eye color threw her. The clear blue shade didn't fit with the rest.

They released their hands and MacKenzie turned a grin to Lindsay. "Augie, your description doesn't do your girlfriend justice." The newcomer shot a wink to the inspector and grinned at the blushing redhead.

"Nice to meet you," Lindsay shook the offered hand.

"And you," MacKenzie took Jill's outstretched hand, "I think my Augie's been holding out on me." A slim eyebrow arched in the reporter's direction before turning back to Jill. "It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise," Jill replied. "But I'm really going to have to ask, Augie?" The sly smile crept up and blossomed on the lawyer's lips.

"Hmm," MacKenzie groaned, "We've only just met, I'm not sure you've passed enough Gamma tests to warrant me divulging privileged information to you."

"Mac," Cindy warned playfully. "Why don't we wait until we have alcohol and food in us before we get into any embarrassing stories, please?" Cindy gathered Lindsay's hand in her own and began pulling her towards the doors, hoping the rest of the group would follow.

"Fine," Jill huffed. "But where are we going?" She took a long look outside and the rain really hadn't let up.

"Why not Papa Joe's?" Lindsay offered, enjoying the raised eyebrows from her friends. She shrugged their surprise off and explained, "It's close and we don't have to risk our necks in the traffic."

Cindy produced an umbrella from her purse and popped it open, watching Claire and Jill huddle under the one Claire produced and MacKenzie pop open one of her own. "Lead the way, Linds."

* * *

Thankfully, the rain had scared away enough patrons that a large booth was open towards the back of the diner. Jill led the group straight towards it and they settled in, adjusting themselves to the round table. Claire ended up in the middle and much to Jill's amusement, she got to sit next to Lindsay while the reporter and her friend sat across from them on Claire's right. The waitress came and went, filling their drink order and taking food requests.

"So," Claire started them off, "how did you and our Cindy meet?" The M.E. propped her arms on the table, laced her fingers together and rested her chin atop them, waiting for MacKenzie to answer.

The woman cocked an eyebrow at her friend. Cindy's response was a smirk and a shrug. "She pledged my sorority," MacKenzie stated before taking a healthy drink of her martini. It wasn't like she didn't know some of the more common perceptions of what sororities did and did not do and what people generally thought of some of the women that pledged them.

While she could attest to those stereotypes having a factual basis, her personal experience and that of Cindy's, she knew were different. Mainly due to their influence on the other during their college careers. From the looks her friend's group was giving her, Mac knew she dropped a bit of a bomb on them. She wasn't too shocked, Cindy was usually pretty private, but she also knew that her friend had been seeing the inspector for some time.

Perhaps it just never came up.

"Mac, if you're going to out me to my girls, tell the story right," Cindy batted at Mac's upper arm.

"Fine," Mac huffed. "It was the beginning of my junior year and we were taking in pledges, time honored tradition, blah, blah, blah. I think you all know or have heard stories about pledging, but at least my house was humane. We didn't go too overboard…"

"Developmental Psych and your Falco," Cindy chided then mumbled, "Too overboard…pffftt."

"Okay, so maybe I had her pretty much take my psych class for me, but come on, Augie, you loved the Falco, just as much as I did," Mac shot back. To clarify, she filled the other women in, "I hated, with an unhealthy passion, developmental psychology. So I did what any rational person would do, got a minion and made her do the work."

The table laughed and Jill said, "That's actually pretty smart. I'm thinking I messed up in college. There were a few courses I could have lived without ever taking."

"Amen," Claire chimed in. "There was a bio course or two that I would have loved to avoid."

"See," Mac beamed, "You guys get it." She wrapped her arm around Cindy's shoulders and squeezed. "Augie did it for me."

"What's a Falco?" Lindsay wondered from across the table.

"Ah, that is or was my favorite bike. Cindy was my assistant when I worked on it," Mac answered and let her friend go, noting the lingering half-glare Lindsay was directing her way.

"It was her motorcycle. A beast of a machine that I learned to strip it down and rebuild," Cindy griped. "Between that and trying to explain to Shanna, our house leader, why my fingernails were constantly black during house activities, it was fun." She swatted Mac's arm again and whined, "You got me in so much trouble."

"You got yourself into trouble. I managed to at least keep you in the house and out of jail," Mac reminded her. "Or do you really want to tell that story? Although, maybe I should have let Dr. Quarles think you were trying to steal mid-term answer keys."

Cindy had the good graces to blush under the intense scrutiny of her friends and girlfriend. Thankfully, Mac helped her out and explained, "It really wasn't…no, it really was her fault. She thought she could catch Dr. Quarles padding his research budget for a study he was trying to get funded for one of his T.A.s. Turns out he was, but the department head caught him before Cindy could."

Lindsay's gaze narrowed and she couldn't help the teasing, "So you've always gotten yourself into trouble. Was she ever picked up for solicitation?"

Mac's mouth dropped open and she looked at her old friend. "Cindy, please tell me she's joking?"

A shake of the reporter's head confirmed Lindsay's outing.

"I swear Augie…" Mac trailed off shaking her head. "Do I even want to know? Yes, yes I do, but later." Mac picked up her margarita, savoring the chilled, sweetness and burn of tequila as it traveled down her throat. "I'm just not drunk enough to hear this story yet."

"Hmm, it's a good one," Jill said over the lip of her own glass. "But enough about Cindy, we see her daily. What about you? What brings you to San Francisco?"

"Work. I just took a position with Intuit as the P.D. of systems analytics." Mac smirked at the blank looks and clarified, "I'm part of information technology, you know the geeks that run around your building fixing computers, telephones, install software, hardware, networks and other various geeky things that bore most normal people. I get to tell those people what to do and when and how to do it."

Mac watched the confusion clear as Lindsay asked, "So where were you before?"

"New York," Mac answered easily. "I worked at N.Y.U, infrastructure and technology services." She waved her hand and dismissed the topic of conversation, "More techie, geeky stuff. Trust me, comparatively, you all have more exciting jobs."

Cindy's brow furrowed and she asked, "But you like it, I mean, you seemed like you liked it?"

"Love it, but, like I said, comparatively, it's boring or at least boring to people who don't like figuring out how stuff works and trying to make it better." Mac stopped, realizing how that sounded and tried to back pedal, "Most people, not saying that any of you don't, but usually, when I start talking about what I do, eyes glaze over, people start to drool or lose consciousness."

"Oh trust us," Claire grinned, "People do that to us too."

"Yeah," Lindsay agreed, "People think they want to know, T.V. makes our jobs look glamorous, but then they realize five minutes into the conversation that it's really not and pulling all nighters isn't just for college students."

Mac shrugged amicably. "Maybe it's all jobs."

"Oh, so I'm assuming you're moved or are you still trying to?" Cindy asked propping her head on her palm.

"Moved. The movers finished about two hours ago. Now, all I need to do is figure out which places have the best take out in my neighborhood and go menu collecting." Mac swirled the ice in her drink and signaled the waitress to bring another round.

"Where at?" Jill asked.

"Uhm, I'm on Polk Street." Mac ran trim smooth nails through her hair and clarified, "I just gave the realtor a coworker sent me to what I was looking for and a price range. I trusted the man to put me someplace I'd like. He said the neighborhood's Lower Knob Hill. It's nice and just what I was looking for."

"I didn't peg you for a yuppie," Cindy teased earning a few snickers from her friends.

"I was in a one bedroom, a six floor walk-up on the Lower East Side, this place is definitely a step up." Mac grinned. "And yuppy? Hardly."

Cindy eyed her friend and took in her appearance. She cocked her head to the side and pursed her lips. "Hmm, you've gotten softer. Still have a bike?"

MacKenzie's middle and index finger popped up on her right hand to wiggle at her friend. "A Ducati Diavel and an Aprilia RSV4."

Cindy's face lit up and she clutched Mac's upper arm. "We're going riding then?"

"You ride motorcycles?" Lindsay barked from the other side of the table sure that she didn't hear her girlfriend right.

Cindy's head bobbed. "Didn't I tell you?"

Three sets of eyebrows rose with shaking heads. "You've failed to mention it, Cindy," Claire spoke up. The doctor's head tilted to the side and she mused, "Although, I'm getting the feeling that you've left quite a bit out."

Mac's gaze traveled from the three women her friend introduced her to, to Cindy herself. The concern was evident in all three faces. "I promise," she tried to smooth Cindy's faux pas over, "she'll be fine. I'll let her ride the Duc. It's a little smaller than the Aprilia and you all are more than welcome to come if you're free when we go."

Cindy rolled her eyes, but sent a sweet smile and batting lashes to the inspector across from her. "Totally safe. Daddy wouldn't let anything happen to me." Offering Mac's upper arm nearest to her a squeeze.

Lindsay's mouth parted but was stopped from asking the question on the tip of her tongue by the waitress bringing over their food. Four plates of food, two burgers, a chicken sandwich and veggie patty were set down. Lindsay quickly exchanged the tomatoes on her burger for Cindy's pickles causing Mac to shake her head. "I guess some things don't change."

"Some do," Lindsay answered the woman. "And will one of you tell me…"

Claire stopped Lindsay's unspoken, biting question with a hand to her arm and Jill filled in, "I think Cindy Lou should explain the, uhm, nicknames?"

The two college friends exchanged a look before deciding to answer the question.


	2. Serve As Fuel

**Ch. 2 – Serve As Fuel**

Fingertips drummed across the beige Formica counter top while the coffee maker sputtered and wheezed. Lindsay wasn't a patient woman on most days; it was a fact she was reminded of while waiting for at least one cup of coffee to drip into the carafe for her to pour. It usually wasn't this bad, but she'd woken up with a dull ache across her cheekbone that radiated behind her ear and ended somewhere in a chord of knotted muscle in her neck.

The tension headache was familiar. Her only hope was that Jill got here soon. A bit of food, caffeine and a Percocet the best cocktail to make the pain lessen. Jill was the one with food. The pot finally filled enough for Lindsay to dump into the mug she'd pulled from the cupboard. She relished the warmth radiating from the ceramic and brought the steaming mug up under her nose and inhaled. The sweet, bitter aroma soothed the throbbing just a little.

"Hmm," she hummed as the first sip slid down her throat.

"Do we need to talk about appropriate responses to food?" Jill asked from behind her.

Startled, Lindsay spun around sloshing a bit of the hot brew across the top of her hand. "Jill, damnit." Absently, she wiped her hand on her shorts, ignoring the slight burn.

Jill pushed off the frame of the entryway and held up a peace offering. "Before you hit me, I've brought you food." The white paper bag was bottom heavy and now that she was aware of its existence, the smell of its contents made the inspector's stomach rumble in anticipation.

"Smart move, counselor." Lindsay grinned and took a seat at the dining table with the lawyer. Jill set her own drink and the bag of food down before slipping her briefcase from her shoulder and placing it at her feet. Lindsay took note of the outfit and knew that Jill at least had one court appearance today by the blazer and slack choice. There were a few key items in Jill's wardrobe that clued her into when her friend was going to go kick defense lawyer ass. The cream suit and black silk blouse were one of them.

"What time do you have to be in court?" Lindsay asked as Jill slid half of the breakfast burrito in front of her. The cheese oozing out from the center and the smell of the spicy chorizo made her mouth water.

"Nine," Jill pouted. "It wouldn't be so bad, but I was in court _all _day yesterday. That case your friends, Green and Muñoz, closed started yesterday and Duff's lawyer tried to get some of the physical evidence, the brush and belt, thrown out of court."

The burrito was halfway to her mouth when Lindsay stopped and looked up, eyebrows hiked in surprise. "That was a clean search, Jill."

She and Jacobi were both there when the two primary inspectors responded to the domestic disturbance call. When they got to the scene, Duff was face down and being cuffed by Green while Muñoz was trying to stabilize the girlfriend and stop the bleeding from her head wound. When they questioned Oscar Molina, the victim's fourteen year old son, the attack wasn't the first. He se claimed Duff had an affinity for using a hair brush and belt on the woman. Closed fists were for her two children when he thought it necessary.

Bad search her ass.

The lawyer covered her mouth as she chewed and answered, "I know. Alexander is his lawyer and he thought it was worth a shot." She shrugged it off and swallowed. "We should actually be thanking her son for snapping random pictures with his cell phone. There was a couple on there that showed the items in plain sight."

Lindsay let her disgust bleed away before finally taking a bite of her breakfast. She closed her eyes and chewed slowly. Nothing really cured a bad headache like a breakfast burrito from Alberto's.

"Today, I'm only going in for sentencing on Cruz. Duff and the Garlit's trial won't start back up until tomorrow. What did you guys do yesterday?" Jill asked taking a sip from the Diet Coke she bought with breakfast.

The last bite of her half of the burrito was pinched between her fingers, the grease of the chorizo slipped between her fingers and dribbled down her palm. Lindsay set it down and took the offered napkin to wipe her fingers and hand. "Not much really. Jacobi and I got caught up on some paperwork and tried to avoid Tom. Since he got back from that law enforcement conference in Palm Beach, he's been trying to foster team camaraderie." Lindsay's lips pursed and she shook her head. "He wants to do team building exercises," she snipped, causing her face to pinch in annoyance.

"What does he want you guys to do?" Jill wondered. Didn't working with a group of people who carried live ammunition and depend on each in life or death situations preclude camaraderie? Jill didn't think you could get much closer.

Lindsay's scowl deepened as she chewed the last of her breakfast. Swallowing first before she answered, she griped, "There's this company that puts these together, he's currently trying to decide on the Culinary Team Building exercise or a damn scavenger hunt."

A roll of Jill's bright blues summed up Lindsay's own thoughts on the matter.

"Good luck with that, Boxer," Jill finally managed to say.

A slight tilt of her head and the appearance of her tongue was Lindsay's response to the sarcastic support offered.

Jill looked around and realized Cindy hadn't made an appearance. "Where's Cindy Lou?"

"Don't know. The last time I saw her was yesterday morning as we left for work. I talked to her last night when I got home and she said she was working late." Lindsay shrugged.

"Hmm, so…" Jill trailed off lightly. "What did you think of MacKenzie?" Truthfully, she'd been dying to ask Lindsay as soon as she had the chance. Now was as good as any other time they were bound to find.

"What would I think about her?" Lindsay balked at the question. Sure, the touchy feely, fawning crap, Cindy had been pulling the other night still irked her, but that wasn't really the other woman's fault. The inspector also knew better than to voice that particular opinion to Jill. She'd never hear the end of it.

"Come on, Linds," Jill sighed. "You usually have an opinion about everyone. Thumbs up? Thumbs down? Want to pitch her into the bay?" The lawyer teased her friend. Well aware of Lindsay's jealous streak. It was cute in that love-sick kind of way. In a way that made her hope that Lindsay would at least find lasting happiness with Cindy. Both she and Claire were pulling for the two.

"She's okay, I guess," Lindsay muttered.

Jill's lips were tucked between her teeth to prevent the smirk. She crumpled up the paper from her half of the burrito and stuffed it in the empty paper bag. She was about to follow up on that particular response when Lindsay's phone started ringing from the kitchen counter.

Groaning, Lindsay popped up and answered it. "Boxer."

"Your presence is requested at the corner of Scotland and Filbert," Warren Jacobi said by way of greeting. "We've got a case."

"All right. I'll meet you there in twenty," Lindsay replied and didn't wait for a response before ending the call and looking to her friend. "Why don't you call Claire and I'll go get ready."

Jill's phone was already in her hand as she watched Lindsay disappear around the corner.

* * *

Lindsay pulled up to the cross streets Jacobi left with her right behind Jill and put her Jeep in park. The alley immediately to her left was already cordoned off, two cruisers, Jacobi's unmarked and Claire's A6 sandwiched in by the Coroner's wagon that just pulled up. Lindsay and Jill stepped from their cars in tandem, looked at each other and exchanged a look, crossing the street to meet up with the other two.

"She was on her way to the Hall," Jill answered Lindsay's unasked question. The lawyer's gaze swept down the alley and she noticed the lack of gurney and body bag being pulled from the van. "Maybe I won't see my breakfast again, after all," she mumbled just loud enough for Lindsay to snicker.

"Hmm, well we can hope," Lindsay ribbed playfully. Jill's poor stomach had been lost over a few scenes. Her friend, unfortunately, had earned a bit of a reputation at the Hall and some of the inspectors and techs had, on occasion, made a conscious effort to see how much the slim D.D.A. could handle.

So far, it wasn't much.

"Good morning," Lindsay greeted her friends, stopping just at the lip of the alley next to Jacobi and Claire.

"Hmm," Jacobi hummed. "It's a morning. Not sure if it's going to be good or not."

"Hi, ladies," Claire greeted and rubbed up Jill's arm, stopping at her shoulder to give it a squeeze in support. "It really isn't that bad," she tried to reassure her friend.

"What are we working with?" Lindsay asked as she snapped on a pair of gloves and headed down the alleyway.

The three other adults trailed after her, but Jacobi filled her in, "Call came into dispatch an hour ago. Some kids," he pointed to two young men in dirty skinny jeans and faded black, ripped t-shirts sitting on the curb, "were dumpster diving and came across a suitcase."

Lindsay saw the markers indicating the dumpster in question and winced. She steeled herself for the next minutes of her life that were going to suck.

"In there," Jacobi pointed to inside the receptacle. His partner shot daggers as he stood far enough away and kept downwind of the unit.

Claire and Lindsay exchanged looks. Claire motioned her forward in an 'after you' gesture. Another scowl was sent out by the inspector towards the doctor. The only thing Lindsay thought as she gripped the edge of the steel container was that she had the good sense to wear sneakers and jeans instead of the standard slacks and flats or heels. Her blouse wasn't going to be a big loss if anything happened. It was a purple and black print top that Cindy bought for her a few months back.

Claire slid up next to her and they both craned their neck over the top of the dumpster, the doctor standing on her tip toes to get a decent glance of the contents in question. Two faces equally pinched, stared down at the opened suitcase.

Claire noted the viscera first, what she thought to be stomach lining, a femur was clearly visible, a partial hip and at least a few toes dotted the top. All of it out of proportion and dismembered.

"Hell," Lindsay hissed.

"Damn," Claire followed up. The doctor lowered her heels and stood flat against the blacktop. Her lips pursed and she spun on her heel heading back towards Ins. Jacobi and Jill.

Lindsay followed her friend and they stopped at the other two, all four turning to eye the dumpster. "It's a good thing you didn't go," Lindsay informed the blonde.

"So, doc," Jacobi started, "what do you want us to do first?"

Claire's gloves snapped off, balling them up in a closed fist, she rested her hands on her hips and chewed her lower lip. "It's a toss-up. I can have the whole dumpster brought back to the Hall and let interns paw through that mess to see if there's anything else or we can assume everything is self contained in the suitcase and just go in, grab that and call it a day."

Jill winced not liking the sound of either of those options. Quietly, she asked, "What exactly is in there?"

Lindsay placed a hand on her friend's shoulder and said, "Parts, icky, bloody parts." Turning her attention to Jacobi, she asked, "Did the kids say if there was anything else in there?"

Her partner shook his graying head. "They just opened up the suitcase, saw what was inside and bailed, calling Nine-one-one as soon as they got clear of the alley. The call came in on a cell phone belonging to Alex Madrigal." Jacobi pointed out the boy on the left.

"I'm going to get one of mine to get in there, get the suitcase and then arrange for transport on the dumpster," Claire decided as she waved one of her staff over. The doctor's mouth dropped open a little as she surveyed the edge of the alley and saw Cindy waving at her.

That sight was fairly normal, but her Skipper didn't usually have company or a dog to go along with her crime scene crashing behavior.

"Lindsay," Claire got her friend's attention and pointed in the direction of the woman's girlfriend. "You should go get them." Claire spun on her heel and walked back to the dumpster with Gerry Amado in tow. The poor kid didn't know what he was in for.

Lindsay watched Claire scurry off before grabbing Jill's arm and dragging her towards the street corner where Cindy, MacKenzie and a dog were waiting. Lindsay took in their attire. Cindy was in track pants and one of Lindsay's favorite articles of clothing the redhead owned, a slightly worn, green, Oregon Duck pullover. Her eyes narrowed as she took in MacKenzie wearing navy NYU basketball shorts and the same hoodie her girlfriend was wearing.

Lindsay just pointed between the two of them and the dog at Mac's feet, not even bothering to ask the question so easily read on her face.

The reporter gave her inspector a sheepish smile and waved before she answered, "We were out walking Ozzie here," Cindy reached down to scratch behind one of the mutts ears, "and I heard the call go out over my scanner."

Lindsay scanned the outfit again, trying to figure out where Cindy would be hiding the hand held unit she'd poached from her a while ago.

Cindy waved her phone. "Aren't smart phones awesome?" She grinned trying to deter the narrowing of her inspector's eyes. It wasn't going well for the reporter, so she quickly asked, "What's up?"

Lindsay pressed her lips together, closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose, collecting herself before she answered. "Body parts in a dumpster," she finally gritted out. "Why are you here?"

Cindy balked at the tone and the question. Lindsay wasn't usually this hostile…well, not anymore. They had worked past all of it before Cindy even realized that her case hero worship ran much deeper. She wasn't sure if it was hero worship to begin with. Letting it go for now, Cindy tried to keep her tone light, "Well you know, Ten-fifty-fours are like my calling card, possible dead body and all." She batted her eyelashes and hoped Lindsay found it at least slightly amusing. The inspector usually did when Cindy informed them all that she had memorized certain penal and radio call codes when they first met.

Lindsay huffed and glared. "Just go home…or finish your walk…or whatever it was you two were doing. I've got work to do." With that the inspector turned on her heel and started to stalk back to Claire and the rest of the group gathered down the alley.

"But…" Cindy called after the retreating form of her girlfriend.

"I'll call if I need you," Lindsay snapped over her shoulder.

* * *

MacKenzie was purposefully quiet on the eleven block hike back to her apartment. Ozzie followed dutifully by her left side and Cindy took up residence on her right. The morning had been relatively peaceful – fun even considering Cindy had crashed with her in her new living room. Cindy had brought dinner, a six pack of her favorite pale ale and a promise to help with unpacking the rest of her stuff. When the morning rolled around they went out for breakfast and decided to take Ozzie for a walk.

She wasn't expecting Cindy to take off in a light, four block jog to a crime scene.

That was a new development to the woman. Of course there were a lot of things about her friend that were different. None bad, just different from the fresh faced, eager undergrad MacKenzie remembered.

As Mac opened her apartment door, Ozzie squeezed passed and bounded towards his water bowl. The slurping was an expected routine of theirs. She stepped back and motioned Cindy in before closing the door and throwing the lock, more out of habit than necessity.

"Water?" she asked as she made her way to the kitchen and hung up her dog's leash on the apron hook next to the fridge.

"Please and thank you," Cindy answered, sinking on to one of the barstools at the kitchen island. Not for the first time, Cindy looked over the finished product of their combined efforts last night. The place was actually pretty perfect for her friend. Not too big, but spacious enough that Mac could spread out. The paint was a light grey with a bluish tint, the hardwood floors were dark and Mac's gently used, but well cared for furniture suited the place. Her soft, brown leather couch was actually better to sleep on than her own bed.

Mac slid a tall glass of ice water to Cindy and sucked down half a bottle of the orange Gatorade in her hand before she decided to voice her annoyance at Lindsay. Mac didn't like making a fuss over how people in relationships not her own acted or treated each other. She knew that all relationships were different and what could be perceived as disrespectful or hostile behavior wasn't.

It was Cindy though and despite the time they had been out of each other's lives, Mac still cared. She wasn't going to let the rudely dismissive behavior of her friend's girlfriend go by the wayside without some explanation from the redhead.

Mac motioned for Cindy to follow her into the living room and they both plopped down onto Cindy's makeshift bed. The clack of Ozzie's short nails against the flooring stopped as he sat down and looked up at his owner. Mac eyed him a moment before patting the space left between her and Cindy as they turned towards each other.

The pitbull mix wagged it's nub of a tail and hopped up on the furniture. Ozzie was large, brindle colored and all muscle, rescued from the Manhattan Care Center a few years ago. He was the best money she'd spent and certainly made her family happy knowing that she had more protection than the Louisville Slugger her dad bought for her when she started grad school on the East coast.

Mac let her hand run over Ozzie's coat deciding on best how to phrase her questions. Cindy, for her part, eyed the woman across from her and said, "Whatever you're thinking Daddy…might as well just say it."

Mac snorted and shook her head. She really should have known better. "Do you usually pop up at crime scenes?" As an opening question went, she felt it was neutral enough.

"Uh, yeah, actually, it's my job. Crime reporter and all," Cindy answered and set her glass down on the coffee table.

"Hmm, and, uh, Lindsay how is she usually or did we happen to catch her when she ate a bowl of uptight bitch for breakfast, Augie?"

The burst of laughter was instantaneous and Cindy covered her mouth as she giggled at the description. Not usually a way she would describe her girlfriend, but some days…

Mac seemed to have hit it right on the head. Honestly, she wasn't sure what Lindsay's problem was this morning. They didn't see each other last night and the last they had talked, right before Lindsay went home for the night, Cindy was stuck at the Register proofing for an intern her jerk of a boss had assigned to her. By the time she was done, she knew Lindsay was probably asleep and made an impromptu phone call to Mac to hang out.

Once the giggles were under control, Cindy tried to explain Lindsay Boxer as best as she was able. "Hmm, I wouldn't have put it quite like that and really, she's not that bad anymore…"

"Anymore as in…she was always like that?" Mac pressed.

Cindy's head tilted to the side as she decided on the answer. "Not always, she's just…" Cindy's brow furrowed trying to explain once again to someone who didn't know Lindsay like she did or like Claire and Jill did. She drew in a breath and back peddled a little. "Look, what you saw today…"

"And the other night, Augie."

Cindy winced remembering the way she had left with Lindsay after their reunion at Joe's. "She doesn't take to people quickly. You're an old friend who knows parts of me that she doesn't. Be nice," Cindy warned lightly.

"I am – or at least I thought I was. It's just…I don't know, she doesn't strike me as someone you would actually go for, y'know?" Mac tried to explain.

"She's loyal, protective, sweet, funny, sarcastic, caring and drop dead gorgeous. What part of that isn't someone that anyone wouldn't want? Besides, it's not like you've changed all that much. Ozzie's a good fit for you." Cindy countered, knowing that she was twisting things slightly, but they really were all some of Lindsay's more dominant traits that originally drew her to the inspector. Some of those qualities Mac possessed in equal measure. She had no room to judge.

"Maybe, but…" Mac let the thought trail off. Calling Lindsay a right bitch to her girlfriend didn't seem like the most tactful decision. "Let's just say that in my limited exposure, as your friend, I'm not really impressed with how I've seen her treat you."

Sighing, Cindy knew she was unable to really argue Mac's point. "I don't know what happened this morning, but let me deal with her. I'll give her an earful tonight when I see her. Don't worry about Lindsay. You'll love her once she warms up to you."

Mac's right eyebrow arched high on her forehead and she shook her head. "I know we've not been in contact in a while, Cindy, but seriously, if she's been treating you like that since you've been together, cop or not…" Mac ran a hand over the top of her head, smoothing down some of the flyaways from her ponytail. "You deserve to be treated right."

Cindy reached out and squeezed the hand Mac was using to pet Ozzie. "She does. Really. I got breakfast in bed the other morning. She's good to me. Maybe not this morning, but I'll take care of it."

Mac dipped her head in concession and let the subject drop for now.


	3. On a Wire

**Ch. 3 – On a Wire**

Lindsay stood, hands on hips, and surveyed the loading bay behind the Hall. A group of techs were lining the area with thick white plastic sheeting. Jeremy Nguyen, a new hire that Claire was enjoying breaking in, was responsible for securing the sheeting with neon green duct tape. The scene, by and large, was entertaining.

"We'll bring the dumpster here and overturn it in the center of the sheet. Clark and Okada," the doctor addressed the other two techs that were assisting with this, "I don't expect to find much if anything else than what was in the suitcase, but I want you to be thorough."

Pulling a thick black Sharpie from her pants pocket, Claire shuffled over the sheeting in surgical booties and drew three large circles on the tarp. Above each, an 'a', 'b' and 'c' were placed and she directed, "Grouping A will consist of irrelevant findings, banana peels, coffee grins, dirty diapers. Group B will be questionable material; I'll leave you to determine that. Group C will contain relevant material, anything with blood on it, if you find any more parts, a bloody saw. Understand?"

Two heads nodded at the doctor. Claire eyeballed them, gauging whether or not she was going to have any issues. She was counting on it, but hopefully, it wouldn't be too bad. It wasn't like she was expecting to get a bunch of evidence from the dumpster, but she'd rather err on the side of caution instead of making a blanket judgment call that could harm the outcome of the case.

"Lindsay," Claire barked, "Why don't you wheel the case in with me and I'll start with that."

Nodding, Lindsay grabbed the hand cart that held the plastic wrapped suitcase and wheeled it into the bay doors, across the smooth concrete floors and into the autopsy suite adjacent to the labs and Claire's office.

"Do you want to help with this?" Claire pointed to the suitcase.

"Sure," the inspector answered, taking the offered gown and gloves. Snapping the gloves into place, Claire assisted in securing the gown at the small of Lindsay's back. "I don't know why Jacobi didn't stay for this."

A light chuckle left Claire's lips and she reminded her friend, "Because Jacobi hates this more than Jill. He just hides it better."

"Hmm," Lindsay grunted and moved to the top of the cart while Claire took up a spot opposite her.

They gathered the corners of the plastic sheeting and Claire directed, "On my count, one, two, three." They lifted the tarp up and onto the steel table to the left.

"Go ahead and unwrap it, I'm going to start grabbing some labels." Claire turned away from the task she had given and went to one of the storage units along the back wall to collect a few rulers, evidence bags, markers and the camera.

"This isn't going to be any fun is it?" Lindsay groused as she balled the plastic up and placed it on the metal cart.

"Probably not," Claire agreed and began setting up at the autopsy table. "I'm really not sure what to expect here."

"First time for everything," Lindsay reminded her.

"Yes, Lindsay, there is. Some firsts, like this, I could happily live without." Claire looked between the camera and her friend. "Do you want to remove parts or photograph?" she asked not sure which she would prefer, but since Lindsay was being a sport about this and helping, she'd give the inspector her choice.

"Uh," the inspector rubbed her hands down her thighs looking between the camera and the now opened suitcase. "Camera," she decided and picked the bulky piece of equipment up.

"Okay, shoot the open case from a direct angle," Claire explained, stepping back from the table to allow Lindsay a clean shot. The click of the shutter was loud and grating for the doctor. Stepping off to the side bench, she powered on the small radio and let the sounds of the oldies station fill the space. Dion and the Belmonts soothed some of the woman's nerves as she gently sung along, "Now people listen what I'm telling you, a-keep away from a-Runaround Sue, Yeah…"

She went back to the table and moved the suitcase to the edge. "One part at a time, Linds. I'm going to remove whatever's in here, piece by piece, photograph it once I have it laid out, measured and labeled. We'll move the pieces to one of the other tables and go until we're done. Okay?"

Lindsay nodded and watched as her friend started in on the first piece, a large semi covered bone. They worked quietly at first, measuring, writing, taking pictures of the contents as each new piece was extracted and cataloged. Mid-way though the case, Claire asked, "Jill in court again?"

"Yeah," the inspector rasped as she snapped off a series of pictures for what looked to be a partial piece of a jaw bone.

"And Skipper?" Claire looked up from the inside of the suitcase, over the protective goggles she was wearing to get a better read on her friend's reaction to mentioning her girlfriend.

The lanky brunette's mouth pinched and she shrugged. "She didn't tell me."

"You didn't really give her much of a chance to tell you," Claire reminded gently as she hefted a piece of soft tissue and placed it in a stainless steel bowl.

Lindsay's eyebrow cocked and she hissed, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Now, Lindsay, don't play dumb." Claire removed the bowl from the scale while Lindsay jotted down the recorded weight. "I haven't seen you that…short with Cindy in a while. What happened?"

Lindsay chewed on her lower lip as she thought about this morning. Yeah she was upset, but she wasn't really sure why. Claire focused back on the suitcase and let Lindsay withdraw, knowing her friend needed time to sort her head on the matter.

The suitcase was nearly empty, the goo lining the bottom held little by way of contents so Claire stripped her gloves and deposited them in the biohazard receptacle, went to the sink and pulled out a large plastic tub and a mesh strainer. Securing the strainer to the top of the tub, she pulled another pair of clean gloves from the box along the wall and snapped them on.

"Set the camera down and come help," Claire broke the through Bobby Darin's version of Splish Splash while Lindsay did as requested. "Help me pour this out, there isn't a lot, but I want to catch anything we can't see."

Nodding, Lindsay hefted one side of the case and walked it over to the sink with Claire.

"Slowly," Claire reminded her as they tipped the right corner of the case down towards the strainer. The fluid poured red, brown and thick, causing Claire to wince at the scent. Stomach fluid was definitely present. She mulled over the possibility of getting a decent sample from the goo. Ten to one, she knew that they would at least be able to get a blood type and they had enough for DNA, but above and beyond that, she wasn't sure.

As the last of the case drained, she looked down and recognized a few bone fragments in the strainer. Lindsay took the case when offered and set it on the side of the sink. Unsure of their next move, she stepped back and turned to survey the morgue. Two of the four tables held the parts collected from the case.

Claire swept her gaze over her lab and sighed. Her head shook as she said aloud, "I'm not sure how much of this is going to be helpful."

Lindsay grunted and continued to chew on her lower lip.

* * *

"Don't you have work?" MacKenzie asked curiously as she watched Cindy rifle through a copy of the Register.

Cindy shrugged. "I turned in a few pieces this morning while you were in the shower. Unless Lindsay calls me about the case they caught this morning, my job is done until tomorrow and my editor gets back to me." The redhead didn't bother looking up from the paper she was reading over.

None of the contents were unfamiliar. They had the local section which was covered easily. The notable change was the front page story on the upcoming election, but that was national news and it happened early this morning. She wasn't surprised by the sudden change and the bump in the budgeting story Doug had put together.

She finally set the paper down on the coffee table and looked at MacKenzie whose nose was buried in her laptop. "What about you?" Cindy asked curious as to when Mac was supposed to be starting her new job.

The response to her question was met with a shake of Mac's head. "Not until next Monday. They gave me two weeks to get moved and settled."

"You're moved, settled," Cindy reminded her.

"Yep and I have all this week to spare." Mac finally looked up from her computer and set it down next to the paper. "I wanted to get my bearings. I'm not all that familiar with San Francisco so a week to get myself sorted seemed like a good idea." MacKenzie flashed Cindy a grin. "Besides, catching up with people is an excellent use of my time."

"Hmm, right," Cindy droned playfully. "What did your family think about the move?" Motioning over to the mantle where a frame eight-by-ten photo set front and center.

Mac followed Cindy's gaze and grinned at the photo taken last year in Boston. The last time her and her family was all together. Her sister's face contorted in a goofy pose while her brother never failed to give both her and her mother bunny ears in any and all family portraits. Her father, the least serious of them all, was striking a pose ala the Incredible Hulk. Her and her siblings all shared the same skin tone and eye color, a surprisingly dominant trait passed down from their father. The russet color of her father's skin the darkest of them all, while her and her siblings had a lighter tone due to her mother's European heritage of dirty blonde hair and light blue eyes.

"Morgan's still in San Diego, Reagan's here with my parents waffling, so I don't think either one of them really cared. You know Morgan, any excuse for her to travel was good. I think she was a little upset that she doesn't have a more reasonable excuse to visit New York now besides, 'I want to'. Reagan, I think is happy. He says I can take the heat with the rents until he figures out," MacKenzie pauses and air quotes, "'Figure out what the hell I wanna do when I grow up'."

Cindy giggled knowing that she could see that coming from Morgan. She was wild when Cindy first met her. "I thought Reagan was going to med school?" Cindy thought back to the duel graduation party their parents held for the pair. He was dead set on it.

"Hmm, commitment issues, apparently." Mac shrugged. "After four years in undergrad work, he's having a hard time with committing to double that."

"But your mom, I thought she'd be all over her son following in her footsteps?" Cindy wondered.

"Mom…" Mac shook her head. "Let me catch you up to speed, Dad's teaching at Berkley and when he took the professorship there, mom was immediately offered a position at U.C.S.F. She turned it down and wanted to do something else."

Cindy's jaw dropped.

"Moms was tired of the hours, of the crap at the hospital and in academia. So she quit," Mac explained.

"Wow, that's…Darlene always talked about her job like…"

"Like it was her second husband?" Mac filled in. "Yeah, shocked us too. I mean she's still licensed, but…" That conversation during her visit home was one that Mac remembers vividly. Her dad, who she knew had put up with a lot from his wife, just stood by and supported her.

"So, uhm, what does she do now?" Cindy lifted her feet up and swung them up over the arm of the couch. Her upper body twisted to lay her head next to her friend's bent knee.

"She took up cooking." Mac grinned down at her and adjusted her seating to pull Cindy's head in her lap.

"Freaking WOW," Cindy gazed up a little shell shocked from the news.

Mac bobbed her head. "Oh, they said to say hello by the way and that you'll have to come over for dinner at some point. Dr. Geoffrey St. Hill was especially enthusiastic to have you back in the fold."

Cindy snickered. "Your dad just wants to have someone to talk to about current events. God knows you or the rest of you trouble makers don't keep up."

"Hey," Mac scoffed, "I keep up."

"Uh-huh, tell me then," Cindy poked Mac in the side, "Who are the top two republican candidates for the GOP's presidential pick. It's an election year after all."

Mac's eyes went to the ceiling and tried to remember when the last time she picked up a paper on her own was. Her lips pursed and she shook her head. "Uh, I know one of them's a moron…sorry Mormon and then there was that Paul guy, right…?" Mac replied hopefully.

"Yeah, exactly." Cindy nodded happy that Mac proved her point. "You guys never cared and like, your dad, he's the only one that's interested in it so…"

"Yeah, yeah." Mac waved her off. "Maybe you'll get to see Morgan again too." Mac wiggled her eyebrows.

"Oh. My. God," Cindy groaned. "Are you ever going to let that go?"

Mac grinned and shook her head. "Please, she's lucky I didn't rip her lips off."

Cindy blushed and had the good sense to break eye contact. The first spring break she had ever been on was with Mac, Chelsea and Morgan. While Mac had always been secure in her sexuality, Morgan struggled with her bisexuality and had ended up using Cindy as an experiment one night. "In my defense, she didn't know and it was one kiss. A peck really," Cindy protested weakly.

"Hmm, yeah, okay, whatever," Mac dismissed the argument.

"How's she doing though? I mean work wise? She seeing anyone?" Cindy asked. Morgan was always kind to her, even after the fluke at Spring Break.

"She's living the life. I mean really, she's got this cute little bungalow, right next to the beach in San Diego, she loves her job, sometimes I think a little too much and her love life…well…let's just say she's happily involved."

"Cool." Cindy beamed.

"And what about, I mean, are you happy, here in San Fran, working at the paper?" Mac queried. Her friend seemed happy, but she was a little leery about the cop. Claire and Jill were good in her book, really good. Lindsay still rubbed her a little wrong.

"Yeah, I am. I mean when I first started, I got stupid puff pieces and crap assignments, but it's shaped up. The girls have helped with that a lot." Cindy grinned slyly. "I get the inside track for most of the crime section and it keeps my editor happy."

"Cool," Mac parroted back and took a look at the clock. "Hey, since you are going to be free, would you want to maybe take a ride on the Duc? You can pick the destination; just tell me where to go?" MacKenzie offered with a wiggle of her eyebrows.

* * *

In the near forty years Jill had been around, she'd seen a lot of advances in technology. A few that rattled off the top of her head were VCR's to DVD'S to DVR's. The shift in the forms of musical media, the mp3 format being on her top five list of great inventions. Then there was the rise of cellular technology. It had its moments of pure unadulterated torture, like when she was on a date or in the middle of rough, breath-stealing sex and her cell went off signaling that her electronic leash was tugging her back to the office.

Then there were times when she thought the pervasive nature of cell phones were the best invention ever. There was something just so enticing about receiving a text message with confirmation of a hot date with great potential and the light teasing that she was currently engaged in.

Thus far, Jill really did think that cell phones were a double edged sword.

"Hey," Claire's voice interrupted the near manic typing of the reply to her confirmation of plans for an evening out, "Jill, you're going to walk into something if you don't pull your nose out of that Blackberry, Miss Thing."

The blonde was unable to stifle the grin on her face as she looked up at her friend. "I can text and walk at the same time," she protested half-heartedly, purposefully ignoring an incident last week as she was yelling at a junior A.D.A. in email and nearly got flattened by a trolley.

Claire merely raised her eyebrows and looked at Jill over the rim of her glasses. Not commenting on the blatant lie just fed to her, she asked instead, "What's got that big ole smile on your face? Court turn out that good this morning?"

"Court sucked," Jill pouted for only a brief moment and then followed up, "And the smile is all due to my date. Tonight." She gave a fist pump while her other hand busied itself by slipping her phone in to the side pocket of her purse.

"Well, that's certainly a grin worthy development. Who's the lucky suitor that gets to take my Jill out on the town?" Claire queried, curious as to who in the blonde's colorful past she was trying to reignite something with. The doctor quickly dismissed the notion that it was anyone new, knowing full well Jill would have gushed upon the first meeting.

The grin lessened to a small, shy smile. "I'm, it's new actually, different." She set her purse and on a bench not too close to the body that Claire was working on and sat at the stool right next to it. "Uhm, sorry, it's just that it's really new and I want to keep a lid on it…at least for a little while," Jill offered meekly, hoping that Claire wouldn't take it the wrong way.

She loved her friends. She loved Claire like the older sister she never got and hurting her feelings was right up there with losing a case on Jill's list of things she hated to do.

"Uh-huh, well, it would be a crime to put a frown on that face. You smiling and being all cheesy is a good thing," Claire said and let it go. "But just so we are clear, I do eventually want details. Good ones too, not the ones you share with Lindsay." She smiled and winked at the blonde, whose face tinged red at the jibe.

"I share with Linds," Jill's rebuke was half-hearted at best.

"You share the basics, because as much as we love that woman, she has a tendency to go a bit…"

"Insane, over protective, badass when someone's encroaching on her people," Jill finished.

"Exactly," Claire agreed, punctuating said agreement with a scalpel point.

"Speaking of…" Jill trailed off and took a quick look around before continuing, "did you have a chance to ask what the hell her problem was this morning?"

Claire looked at the clock right above Jill's head and decided now was as good a time as any for lunch. She set the scalpel down and covered one of the many parts recovered from this morning's scene with a sterile, surgical cloth. Her gloves were snapped off and she disposed of those and her gown in the proper containers. "Come on, Ed made stroganoff and I have leftovers. We'll eat and catch up."

"Tell Ed he's my favorite," Jill squealed and followed Claire into the office. They worked quickly, pulling the items needed from the fridge and heating their meal up in the microwave kept on top of the small refrigerator.

As they sat down on the couch together, Jill idly wondered, "Is it a health code violation to have this stuff with all that?" Jill waved her fork in the general direction of the autopsy suite. "I've always wondered, but…"

"It's fine as long as there's no contamination." Claire took a bite of the dinner she missed last night, savoring the food before she answered Jill's earlier question. "I asked Lindsay about it. She just clammed up."

Jill rolled her eyes and chewed. "Well, at least she's predictable."

"If we're going to be honest about our Boxer, I think it was a reaction to exactly what we accused her of being. MacKenzie was touchy feely, she's known Cindy the longest out of all of us and Cindy was just as equally touchy feely," Claire summarized before taking a drink from the offered bottle of water.

"So, Lindsay was jealous and poor, unknowing Cindy added fuel to the fire when she showed up to _her _crime scene with Mac in tow." Jill tipped her head back and rested it against the back of the couch.

"That sums it up. Although, the way Mac was acting the first night we met her and then the looks she was shooting at Lindsay at the crime scene…" Claire let that thought linger and watched Jill pick her head up.

"I don't think it's that. What I do think is that if Lindsay convinces Cindy to see her tonight, she's going to get a royal ass chewing." Jill smirked at the thought. Their little Cindy Lou had come quite a long way in learning to manage her friend. In Jill's book, that was good thing. Cindy, in the year her and Lindsay have been together, had managed to do what Tom couldn't do the entirety of their relationship.

"I'll make sure to get Linds a donut to sit on tomorrow," Claire joked, causing the two to erupt into a fit of giggles while they finished off their lunch.


	4. These Draining Seconds

**Ch. 4 – These Draining Seconds**

Shuffling in behind Jacobi, Lindsay plopped down into the first free table that they found. Their hand held unit was set to the side. She positioned it next to the napkin dispenser and set the volume to an acceptable level for the quiet atmosphere of the Hai Ky Mi Gia. It was a favored lunch spot for the duo and it was surprisingly empty for the mid-week afternoon.

"You want the usual?" Jacobi asked, standing in front of his chair, arms akimbo and looking expectantly at his partner.

"No, get me the bahn loc," Lindsay answered and plucked her phone from the side pocket of her blazer.

Jacobi eyed her, taking in all of the things Lindsay currently wasn't saying. Shaking his head, he turned slightly and called to Mr. Phan, "The bahn loc and I'll take the usual, Mike."

"Mi Vit Tim?" Mike Phan clarified from behind the counter.

"You're a life saver, my friend," Jacobi thanked him and turned back around. Pulling out his chair, he sat and tugged at his grey, corduroy sports coat, adjusting it so it fell easy across his back and shoulders. With his head slightly cocked, he queried, "So, why are you staring at your phone like it just told you you have cancer?"

Lindsay's head shot up, narrowed eyes and scrunched brow firmly in place. Jacobi would have rolled his eyes if he thought it might not get him hit…or shot.

Some days it was a toss-up with Lindsay Boxer.

"I'm not," the inspector groused just a little. "I was expecting a message from Cindy, but…" She held her phone up and shook it. "Either it's broke or she hasn't messaged me."

"Ah, I see." Jacobi leaned back in his chair, folding his arms over his chest. "Well, it's probably not a bad thing. The scene this morning was…"

"Weird?" Lindsay supplies.

"Definitely weird. What did Claire have to say about it?" he wondered.

"Not a lot. We're crossing our fingers for an I.D. and praying that something will come across on CODIS." Lindsay tossed her phone on the table and sat back, running a hand through thick unruly locks.

"When we get back, we can start in on missing persons. She say if the body was male or female? Age? Race?" the darker man pressed. He was expecting very little, but narrowing down the search if it was an adult they could start with the roughly forty-eight-thousand active missing person cases in the U.S., but if it was a kid that number ballooned to eight-hundred-thousand.

"Female, early twenties from the partial hip recovered and Claire thinks Caucasian, but she told me not to set that one in stone. She's got a call out to a friend at UCSF that works in the anthropology department," Lindsay filled in.

"You know what else was weird?" her partner asked.

Her eyebrow arced. "That a rhetorical question?"

Jacobi shrugged. "Maybe. Who was the dog and pretty black girl with Cindy?" he finally asked. It had been eating him all day if he was honest. Cindy knew better than to bring anyone to a crime scene, especially if she wanted access to the details before anyone made any form of official statement.

That working rule had been in place well over a year and a half. Cindy toed the line with many things, only occasionally crossing them, but her showing up with another body was out of character and Warren Jacobi wanted answers. The unidentified girl was, after all, glaring at his partner. If someone was trying to cause trouble, he wanted to know. He wanted to know and he wanted to stop it before it really began.

"That," Lindsay snipped, and then shifted to an obnoxiously high pitched voice, "was MacKenzie St. Hill. Cindy's B.F.F. from her sorority."

"I've never seen her before," Jacobi tried for casual.

"She just moved here from New York. They're reconnecting and being all girly and annoying and irritating." Lindsay's fingers drummed across the top of the Formica table. "Just swoops in, bats some eye lashes and suddenly, Cindy's falling over herself to spend time with the woman."

"Ah," Jacobi nodded. He wasn't left with much else.

"I mean can you believe that? She just shows up to my crime scene with her in tow? With her dog? Cindy doesn't bring Martha to crime scenes. Martha stays home when there's a murder." The brunette slid down in her seat a little more. Her long legs reaching to tap the front legs of Jacobi's chair.

"So she was shooting daggers at you because…?" he wondered, curious as to the history. When Lindsay finally told him about her and Cindy, he smiled and patted her shoulder. What else was he going to do? His partner was happy again. She was also much easier to work with. If things were going to upset that balance, he needed to know. He needed to invest in more antacids and put a little more away for the alcohol he would have to by his partner if her relationship with the redhead fell apart.

"Because she can?" Lindsay ventured. She hadn't really been paying attention to the looks she was getting. "Does it matter?"

Jacobi's mouth opened to answer when the hand held crackled to life. "Dispatch requesting a ten-forty-nine to Seventeen-forty-nine Leavenworth. Ten-fifty-four."

The pair exchanged a look. "That's right around the corner," Jacobi responded.

Lindsay snatched the handset up before he could and confirmed their location and response. They stood in tandem. Jacobi offering an apologetic smile to Mike. "Sorry, Mike."

The man waved him off and said, "You two come back, I keep it warm for you."

Nodding, Jacobi followed his partner out the door and up the half block to Leavenworth. A cruiser was already out in front of a seven story building. One patrolman was guarding the entrance to the building while another cruiser pulled up and sectioned off a space for the corners van that should be arriving.

"Sixth floor, unit eighteen," the uni guarding the door directed with a flash of their badges. "There's no elevator, so have fun."

Two groans were dispelled as they entered the building and looked up at the stairs. "This sucks," Lindsay groaned as they started their climb.

"Agreed," Jacobi huffed a third of the way up. "Isn't this a code violation?"

"Nope," Lindsay puffed as they passed the fourth floor landing. "I think if there's a fire escape accessible and emergency exits, it's fine."

"Then who in the hell would agree to this torture every day?" the other inspector wondered as they took the last flight of steps two at a time.

"Masochists and health nuts," Lindsay answered as she held the door to the sixth floor hallway open.

They headed right and found the door to unit eighteen cracked open. Knocking, Lindsay called out, "S.F.P.D. Hello?"

Her call was met with silence. Settling her hand over her gun, she unsnapped the strap that went across the back of her service weapon and toed the door open. "Hello?" she tried again. The door swung open, revealing a tiny dingy studio apartment. The living room was directly in front of them. The kitchenette off to the right and a body was slumped over the couch.

She snapped the strap back in place and entered the apartment. "Take a look around," she directed her partner. She watched him disappear around a corner towards the bathroom before striding over to the couch to take in the scene.

The kid, probably no more than twenty was slumped back against the cushions. His left arm was extended, the crook of it, various shades of red, purple and blue. A needle protruded from an exposed abscess. The body was bloated and discolored. Lindsay couldn't really gauge how long he'd been like that, but she'd guess anywhere from twenty-four to forty-eight hours.

"What do you have?" Jacobi asked coming up behind her.

"O.D. from the looks of it," she answered, pointing to the bent spoon, melted candle and needle.

The grunt from Jacobi was acknowledgement enough. It was going to be that kind of week.

* * *

Pressing the button to activate the speaker on her desk phone, Claire listened to the ringing while she closed her office door. Her team was still processing evidence and she knew they would be here for another four hours, at least.

On top of the dumpster case and the O.D., Claire was back logged on paperwork, evidence processing for a dozen or so pending cases and she had trial prep on three cases slated for next week. She winced when her husband picked up the phone, "Hello?"

"Hi," she greeted a little timid.

"Claire, are you on your way home?" Ed asked. Claire could hear a TV playing faintly in the background.

"Uh, not really," she grimaced. "There were some bodies that came in today and I want to get some of the processing out of the way. I just wanted to call and let you know that I won't be home until after dinner."

She settled into her chair and pinched the bridge of her nose, waiting for the resentment to come pouring from her husband. On one hand she understood. She understood his anger and his frustration, because if the roles were reversed, she's not sure just how much patience she'd be able to muster.

On the other hand, he knew what he signed up for when they got married. They discussed her job and his job at length. The hours were long, grueling and he promised that it didn't matter.

Lately, it seemed her husband's forgotten that.

"Guess the fact that I ordered pizza was a good thing," his voice was clipped as it carried from the speaker. "What time will you be gracing us with your presence?"

Her jaw tensed, clamping her teeth together.

"The boys got their homework done. Open house is tomorrow night," his tone softened. "Can you make that?"

Sighing, she tried to explain, "Ed, I'm sorry. There's just so much to get done here and we're getting behind. I have cases headed to trial I need to prep for. Linds has two open cases that just came in today. The techs are trying to catch up with processing but we have a dozen cases and a half dozen consults that need to get out before the end of the week."

"Hmm," he hummed. "I just think it'd be nice if the boys saw their mom before Saturday. Provided she'll be home."

"I'll see you tonight," she promised.

"How about a compromise?" Ed ventured.

Claire's eyebrow arced. She could work with a compromise if it meant not getting the silent treatment or a cold shoulder the rest of the week. "I'm all ears."

"Finish up two reports and 4 cases that need processing. The bodies will be there for you tomorrow and if the trials for your pendings don't start until next week, then I'll take the boys somewhere Saturday and give you a full eight hours to prep with Jill?"

She didn't need to think twice about that deal. "Sold."

"Good, because that's all you were getting from me." She heard the phone pull away from his ear and the kids asking about their bed time. Pleased with the response Ed gave, she finally relaxed a little, her shoulders dropping a fraction of an inch. "So, you'll slink into bed sometime before twelve?"

"Yes," Claire agreed. "Ed, I…"

"Don't Claire," Ed's voice dropped to just above a whisper, no doubt trying to keep their sons from overhearing the tone of his voice and his words. "This conversation is far from over, but I'm tired of arguing about it. I'm tired of it all."

Her mouth opened to apologize, or try to at least, but the phone line went dead before she could form the words. The doctor ran a hand through her hair and sighed.

* * *

Lindsay loved her apartment. She loved the location. She loved her neighbors. Going home didn't happen as consistently as she would have liked, it depended on what case she was working and if Cindy wanted to sleep in her own bed instead of Lindsay's. More often than not, Cindy would stay over and keep Martha company, but as of late, Cindy's appearance at her place had been spotty at best.

It's why when Lindsay opened her front door and heard the clanging around in the kitchen and saw Cindy's purse and jacket tossed on the recliner that she was surprised. No contact from the reporter all day had left her a little worried, but not concerned enough to go around to her girlfriend's apartment. The shock of coming home to find Cindy here was pleasant.

Unexpected, but something the inspector could work with.

"Linds?" Cindy called out as her head poked around the corner.

A small grin spread over Lindsay's lips as she shut the apartment door and patted Martha on the head in greeting. "Hi," she rasped and cleared her throat. "Uhm…"

"We need to talk and I was hungry," Cindy didn't give the other woman time to finish the question.

Lindsay watched amused as Cindy's head disappeared into the kitchen again and the unmistakable scrape of a pan over a burner was heard. Taking the bait, Lindsay removed her coat and hung it on the back of the closet door then shuffled into the kitchen to ask, "What do we need to talk about?"

"Uhm," Cindy spun around to face her, bottom lip clamped between her teeth and frying pan in hand, "I don't know. Maybe we could start with this morning?" Her head bobbed up and down. "Yeah, I think I'd like to start with this morning and not to pick a fight or anything but, really, Lindsay, what the hell?"

The inspector's eyebrows rose and disappeared under a section of hair that drooped across her forehead. "What about this morning?" She put her hands on her hips and waited. If Cindy wanted to do this, well…Lindsay had a few choice words for her girlfriend as well. "Do you want to tell me what you were thinking bringing her to a crime scene? Maybe you could tell me why you were with her and not at work to begin with?"

Cindy split the omelet in the pan in half and dumped the pieces on to the two plates she had set out. The potatoes were already sitting there, waiting to be eaten. She grabbed two forks and motioned for Lindsay to sit down at the kitchen table. Taking the seat next to the brunette, Cindy picked her fork up and speared a potato, working through Lindsay's questions to decipher her lover's true intent.

It was a thing with Lindsay. One that Cindy had learned the hard way to navigate. It was never about the obvious with Lindsay. In some ways, in regards to work, the inspector was too direct, cutting to the heart of the matter with a few simple well placed words and a look.

When it came to the personal stuff, the things Lindsay liked to hide from everyone, that she liked to protect and safe guard, it was about what wasn't said. Personally, Lindsay communicated between the lines.

Sometimes it drove the reporter up a wall.

Sighing, she chewed the potato thoughtfully and swallowed before deciding on an answer. "I spent the night at Mac's helping her unpack and we were out for a walk when the call came over the scanner. If you had given me a minute to explain, I would have this morning."

"You spent the night?" Lindsay choked out.

"I did. I brought her dinner and we unpacked the last little bit of stuff she had," Cindy further explained, not seeing the issue. She was at a friend's. Safe, sound, not running around and talking to the city's undesirables so that she could give her girlfriend premature tachycardia.

Lindsay's eyes narrowed over the rim of her glass of water. Drawing in a breath, she set the glass down and studied her girlfriend. Was it really that big of a deal? Mac was Cindy's friend after all. She trusted her. It's just…"I wish you would have given me a heads up."

"There wasn't really time, Linds. Really." Cindy set her fork down and reached for Lindsay's hand. She wove their fingers together and rested them on top of the table. "The attitude this morning though, really uncalled for."

Lindsay's jaw worked itself open, then closed, deciding to not apologize for her behavior. If that's what Cindy was fishing for, well, it wasn't coming from the inspector. Instead, she used her free hand to pick up her fork and go back to the dinner cooked for her.

"How was your day?" Cindy finally asked when she realized Lindsay wasn't going to say anything more on the topic.

"Fine, we caught an O.D. later in the day and I helped Claire in the morgue. You?" Lindsay answered around a mouthful of mushroom, egg and cheese.

"Hung out with Mac most of the day, turned in a few articles." She left out the bike ride on purpose. No reason to tell her something that would start another round of twenty questions and unsaid accusations.

"Hmm," Lindsay hummed, giving Cindy's hand a squeeze. Despite her annoyance, it was still nice to come home and find Cindy there. It's something that she's been asking for a month now. "Cindy?"

"Yeah?" the reporter looked up.

"It was nice to come home and see you." That was about as much of an acknowledgement Cindy was going to get about her absence the last two days.

Knowing where this was going, Cindy withdrew her hand from Lindsay's and rested it in her lap. "Lindsay," she warned.

The inspector tried to make light, wiggling her eyebrows a little for effect and silliness. "Would it be that bad?"

Cindy closed her eyes and emptied her lungs. She waited a beat before drawing in a deep breath and answered, "Honestly, no, it wouldn't, but Lindsay, it's too soon…"

"We've been together over a year…"

"I know," Cindy cut her off. "I know we have and I know we've talked about it, but…it's too soon." It's been brought up, the idea of them living together, at least once a week since Lindsay asked her to move in with her right after the New Year. She wanted it, but she didn't want to lose Lindsay either. She also knew that if they rushed this, if they pressed each other, it would happen, it may take a while, but someone would spook and run.

Trying to stay up beat, Cindy tried, "Slow and steady, Lindsay. Please?"

The inspector swallowed down her instantaneous retort and just nodded not sure what else to really say about the umpteenth rejection from her girlfriend.


	5. Disgraceful, Crazy Absentminded

**Ch. 5 – Disgraceful, Crazy, Absentminded**

Jill stepped from the cab and into the cool San Francisco night. The front of Ate-7, Ate-9 stood before her and she shook her head. The restaurant had opened up in mid-oh-nine and had slowly become one of the 'it' places to eat in San Francisco. A smile spread over Jill's face as she remembered the last time a date had tried to bring her here.

The attempt was a miserable failure, the lawyer, whose name Jill couldn't remember, had thought he'd be able to flash those too pearly whites and a little cash to get them a table. Teasing him afterwards was the highlight of the date that ended when Jill's back up, Claire, had called with an 'emergency'.

If her date tonight pulled this off…

Jill shook her head.

Her date wasn't going to pull this off. You had to make reservations at least three weeks in advance for a weeknight, add another two for the weekend. Considering their plans had only been confirmed right before lunch, Jill figured she was at least in for some quality mocking.

Stepping forward, a hostess pulled the front door open and ushered her in. The lawyer took a moment to take the place in. It was wall to wall people from what she could see. The chatter was surprisingly quiet. Off to her left, the bar was just as busy. The décor hadn't changed much, the walls were left bare, and the rough red brick enhanced the contrasting furniture and lighting. Most of the restaurant was lit up with candles and low wattage fixtures. The tables were intimate and spaced well enough apart that conversation could be held privately. High-backed, rich, brown leather booths lined the walls.

Most places that ended up being in the top five places to eat in San Francisco usually ended up having elitist clientele and a menu to overpriced for anyone under six-figures a year to afford. The place she found herself seemed to have a broader customer base and she was happy to see it.

"Yeah," she spoke quietly to herself, "this is gonna be interesting."

She scanned the faces of the people at the bar off to her left, looking for her date when she felt a tap on her left shoulder.

"You should keep a better eye on your surroundings," MacKenzie chided, blue eyes twinkling from the light cast by the chandelier. The younger woman wiggled her eyebrows and grinned. "I was sitting right by the door when you came in."

"Ah," Jill finally managed to get a word in. She stepped back a little and took in her date's attire, a thin white top that was hidden by a form fitting green leather jacket, jeans that looked to have been painted on, and, Jill smirked, a pair of sensible peep-toe flats. While Jill was busy checking out her date, MacKenzie was openly staring at the form fitting cream colored dress Jill had on. The fabric fell in just the right way across the lawyer's frame sparking the darker woman's imagination.

"You look stunning," Mac admitted easily, silently patting herself on the back for remembering how to speak. "Why don't I take your jacket and check it, then we can get a table?" she offered already moving to help Jill out of her coat.

Not wanting to hurt Mac's feelings about the likelihood of them getting a seat tonight, she allowed her jacket to slip from her shoulders and offered her purse as well, making sure to keep her phone in her hand just in case.

She watched Mac slip her own coat free and hand it over to the attendant while Jill's jaw dropped. The top her date was wearing had a deep v-cut along the back left shoulder, the point of the exposed fabric ending at the waist of her date's jeans. Creamy light brown skin was exposed as Jill's mouth grew tacky.

She watched Mac slip the ticket for the checked items in the back pocket of her jeans before spinning back towards herself and the maître d'. The smile the younger woman sent her was charming and warm. Jill knew that she'd have her work cut out for her if Mac ever switched careers and took up as a defense attorney. That smile would have jurors eating out of the palm of her hand.

"Hi," Mac greeted again and placed a hand at the small of her back. The heat radiated through the silk of her dress causing a line of goose bumps across the area of skin.

"Hi back," Jill returned coyly. "Shall we?"

"We should. The last I ate was a sandwich around eleven." Mac guided them to the podium and said, "Hi, I should have a table reserved for two under St. Hill."

The maître d's small smile blossomed and she nodded enthusiastically. "Of course. Ms. St. Hill. We've been expecting you. If you and your date would like to follow me, please?"

Jill held back the surprise and instead allowed herself to be led by the hand still pressed against her towards the back of the restaurant. They by-passed most of the patrons and were led to a set of rooms set back across from the kitchen. "Right this way," the woman motioned them through the middle archway. They passed the threshold and around a small, waist-high wall. The room opened up to a private dining area with seating for two. A silver bucket set off to the side of the small, cloth covered table top.

"Thank you," Mac said shaking hands with the woman before turning to Jill and holding out a chair for her. "And here you are." Mac shot a wink to a blushing Jill who quietly took the seat being offered.

"A bit much for a first date?" Jill chided as she looked around the room.

"Second," Mac corrected taking the seat across from the attorney.

"How so?" Jill wondered, trying to figure out when she'd missed the first.

"The first night we met," Mac reminded her. "You and I were the only ones left and if I remember correctly, it was date like. I even walked you home."

"But you turned me down when I invited you up. That wasn't a date," Jill insisted. She had wanted MacKenzie to follow her upstairs, but the woman seemed to have a different idea.

"I left you with a kiss on the cheek and a promise to call you, totally the first date." Mac's smile was smug and playful.

"I still say this is the first date and it is, you have to admit, a bit much for a first," she help her finger at the protest forming on the other woman's lips, "or a second date. How did you manage this? Reservations are impossible for the amount of time you had to work with."

Laughing, Mac shrugged. "And if I don't tell you, will I get in trouble?"

"I'm an officer of the court, I'm sure I can pull some strings to get you to talk," Jill teased.

Licking her lips, Mac nodded. "I'm sure Ins. Boxer would like an excuse."

Jill's eyebrows rose in acknowledgement. "Caught on to that, did you?"

"I did. I'm not super worried." At the look the attorney was giving her, Mac relented, "Okay, I'm slightly worried, upsetting the law when you've barely been in town a week is never a good idea."

"Very true," Jill agreed. "So tell me, how?"

Rolling her eyes, Mac sighed. "Fine. I know the executive chef and she owes me a favor or two."

Immediately drawing to a conclusion, Jill couldn't help ribbing her date, "Asking an ex for a favor on a date with someone new is bad from, St. Hill."

Mac's face immediately soured. "Ex?"

"Who else could you possibly know in the area?" Jill reasoned. "Besides Cindy that is."

"Oh," Mac realized, "Yes, well, actually…" Mac was interrupted by a slight cough from the entryway.

Turning back towards the sound, a woman in white chef pants and black smock stood with her hands on her hips. Older, with salt and pepper hair pulled back in a bun and an amused smile looked them over.

"I thought you were _not_ working tonight?" Mac questioned coolly.

A thin brow arced up at the tone and the woman finally spoke, "MacKenzie Martin St. Hill, you may be grown, but watch your tone." A finger was pointed at Jill's date for emphasis, additionally confusing the blonde. "And furthermore, you're being rude; introduce me to your date so I can get back to preparing your food."

MacKenzie drew in a steadying breath. "Jill, I'd like you to meet the woman that helped secure our reservation tonight, Darlene St. Hill, my mother. Mom, this is Jill Bernhardt."

Jill's eyes grew large as she swiveled her head back around to her date. MacKenzie offered an apologetic smile and explained, "She wasn't supposed to be here, but…"

"I'm nosy and I haven't seen my first born for longer than I care to admit." The chef stepped forward and offered a hand in greeting. "It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise," Jill took the offered hand and shook gently.

"You should really be going, mom," Mac stressed the word 'mom' and made shooing motions with her hands.

"Fine," the woman agreed. "I just came to say hello and embarrass my daughter. I'll have your waiter start bringing in your food shortly. Jill," the woman looked pointedly at the attorney, "it was lovely to meet you. Please enjoy the rest of your date and if she's anything less than respectful and gracious, please come and find me."

Jill couldn't help the smile and her instantaneous like of MacKenzie's mom. Their smiles were carbon copies of the other. "It's clear where Mac gets her charm."

"Such as it is," Darlene dug playfully.

"She can be quite charming," Jill defended automatically. "Thank you though. This is wonderful," she indicated the room they were in.

"No trouble at all. Have a good evening ladies. MacKenzie, I expect at least a phone call before the weekend." Darlene warned before exiting.

Jill faced her date in just enough time to witness the eye roll. "I think you owe me more of an explanation, MacKenzie Martin St. Hill."

Mac groaned and let her head fall forward.

* * *

The Hall's Forensic Unit was in a word, empty. The two occupants sat on stools, one was hunched over a microscope and the other spun around lazily. Lindsay pushed herself to the left and twirled on the seat until her knees gently bumped the cabinet behind her. Using the momentum from the impact, she pushed herself off and in the other direction.

"You know," Claire spoke up as she looked at her friend, "you're worse than my boys."

"Pfft, I'm bored," Lindsay groused, but stopped herself from spinning in the other direction.

"If you like, I can trade you. You can stay here and try to fix the mess Okada made of the samples from your O.D. and I can head home?" Claire's lips pinched together and waited on the shake of the head she knew to be headed her way.

"Ed mad?" Lindsay ventured, feeling for her friend. She knew all too well what the job could do to a relationship. Her marriage a prime example, but even that, as bad as it got towards then, was never as bad as some of the less serious relationships she'd had since then. It always boiled down to not having the time or the energy some days to put the effort sustaining any type of partnership took. She and Cindy were doing well, and that was largely due to the near inexhaustible patience Cindy seemed to have for her.

"Understatement of the decade, dear." Claire sighed and sat up a little straighter, stretching the stiff muscles along her back. She winced as her latissimus dorsi contracted and burned. Pushing through the contraction, she arched back and groaned. "We made a deal that I'd be home before midnight."

Looking at her watch, she still had two hours to make good on the promise, but she still had another hour of tests to run and then analyze the results. If she was lucky, she saw herself getting home closer to one. "Tox screen is almost done, but I need to make sure the LIBS is finished and LA-ICP-MS runs smoothly. Okada nearly broke the machine."

"Ah, and what does the alphabet soup stand for again?" Lindsay asked knowing that she'd probably been told a half dozen times, but for the life of her, she couldn't remember.

"LIBS is for the laser induced breakdown spectroscopy and the other stands for laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. Do you really want me to explain how they work?" Claire smirked, as she already saw the slight glaze sliding over her friend's dark brown eyes.

Lindsay just shook her head. "I think I already asked too many questions."

Nodding, Claire just smoothed back her hair. "Did you ever manage to talk to Cindy," Claire tried for a topic change. By the dark look that passed over Lindsay's face, she assumed that her attempt flopped.

"Yes," the inspector replied not bothering to offer anything more.

"And…" Claire pressed. It wasn't something she did a lot of with Lindsay. Half the battle with getting the detective to talk was knowing when to press and when to back off. She was skirting a line that she wasn't sure she should at the hour they found themselves, but she also figured that it couldn't hurt to have one more person upset with her. It gave her a chance to take her mind of her own problems.

"And what?" Lindsay snapped back.

"Did you talk about this morning? MacKenzie?"

Lindsay rolled her eyes and decided to bite the bullet. "She was there when I got home. We touched on MacKenzie and this morning, but I left after we started arguing about her moving in…again."

"She's still not sold on you two consolidating households." Claire surmised.

"Yeah," Lindsay huffed. "She thinks it's too soon. How does that work? I'm there. I want to live with her."

"You don't think she doesn't?" Claire wondered aloud.

"If she wanted to live together, she would already have her stuff at my place. We wouldn't be arguing and I wouldn't be here." Lindsay's arms folded across her chest as she leant back against the counter.

Claire watched her left foot beat against a leg of her stool. "Have you stopped to consider that it isn't a matter of want?" Claire watched Lindsay's brows knit together.

"What's that supposed to mean, Claire?" the inspector asked predictably.

Claire bit back the smirk. Sometimes her girl was more predictable than her kids. "Okay, just off the top of my head, have you bothered asking if she wants to leave her apartment? Maybe she likes it there better…"

"My place is bigger and the neighborhood's better," Lindsay retorted.

"So? Do you think that actually matters to her? For another thing, what about how she feels about it? What exactly has she said when she's told you no?" Claire slipped from the stool and made her way over to her friend to sit down on one of the empty seats next to her.

"She…verbatim, 'it's too soon'. That's all I get from her." Lindsay's hands went up in the air for a brief frustrating second before thumping back down on jean covered thighs. "What the hell does that even mean?"

"I think," Claire said delicately, "that it means she doesn't think you two are ready to live together yet. Given your reactions as of late, I think Skipper's right on the money with this, Linds. Your fit of jealousy over MacKenzie hasn't gone unnoticed by anyone."

"I'm…" Lindsay started to protest, but looking at Claire caused the inspector's mouth to clap shut. "Ugh…boys are so much easier to figure out!"

Claire snickered. "Because you were so much happier dating men?"

"I…well, I…," Lindsay stammered.

"Give it up, Linds. That redhead of ours is the best thing to happen to you in a good long while." Claire patted Lindsay's knee and relaxed a little when her friend's lips twitched up in acknowledgement. "Hmm, which reminds me, do you know who Jill had a date with tonight?"

Lindsay's eyebrows rose at the news and she shook her head.

In the far corner of the lab, a machine beeped, drawing the attention of the two women. Claire hopped up from her seat and went over the LIBS machine to grab the print out from the test run on their OD victim's blood. Her lips pursed as the results started to make sense. "Well, we may not know who she's out and about with, but at least we can take satisfaction in interrupting it."

* * *

"I'm sorry," Jill apologized. "I just don't see it." She heard what Mac was saying but for the life of her she couldn't get the images to merge.

"Do you really think I'd lie about something like this?" Mac asked. "Trust me, it's not something I'm proud of, but you asked. And my policy is firm, if you don't want to know, then don't ask and if you do ask, do not blame me or get angry that I gave you the answer."

Jill grinned, leaned back in her chair and studied her date. "Nope. I'm not buying into it." Her eyes narrowed at the twinkle in the blue-green eyes staring back at her. "You're leaving something out. What?"

She watched MacKenzie bit the bottom right corner of her lip before the woman spoke up, "You're good."

Giggling, Jill blew across her nails and pretended to shine them across her shoulder. "It's why they pay me the big bucks. Seriously, though, I just can't picture you the quiet, introverted type. I don't care how old you were. It just doesn't make sense."

Rolling her eyes, Mac persisted, "I really was. I kept it low key, under the radar. We're talking mid-nineties, Ellen hadn't come out and I was gay, like super, homo of the first order, gay. Add that to being in a private school with mostly white kids that had more money than they knew what to do with, I was more than happy to just blend in as much as possible."

"Awe," Jill teased, "poor baby." Her teasing earned a throaty chuckle from her date and she had to ask, "So what happened?"

"College. A Gay-Straight Alliance meeting and alcohol," surmised the woman. "I sort of…busted out. It was good, too. Questioning bi-curious girls, lots of hops and a killer smile." Mac wiggled her eyebrows and flashed the grin Jill had already become smitten with.

"They didn't stand a chance," Jill stated. "Should I bother asking?" She wasn't sure if she wanted to know, but she doubt Mac had a romantic history as colorful as her own.

Mac shook her head. "I'm sure it will violate some dating rule I'm not accustomed to."

"Hmm." Jill's left eye squinted across the table and her lips pursed. "More of the one night stand type of girl?"

Mac shrugged. "I've had a few." She sobered slightly and met Jill's gaze directly. "Shall I ask about you?"

The question left Jill's cheeks a light shade of pink and she shook her head. "I'm playing the age card here. I have excuses and valid, sound logic for everything." Jill winked. "Although, those few you mentioned, is that why you wanted to wait before telling Cindy about us?"

"Oh, a little presumptuous of you, Ms. Bernarhardt. I don't think we've reached an 'us' stage, but if we were there, then I'd insist that Cindy know." She slid her chair easily around the table, playfully bumping shoulders with the attorney before gathering her hand and threading their fingers together. "My request was multipurpose, I wanted to see how 'we' were without that group you have influencing anything," Mac paused and brought Jill's hand up to brush her lips across her knuckles, "Dating or figuring out if you should date is hard enough without friends being nosy." Mac let her teeth graze the tip of Jill's index finger, "and I'm not sure Lindsay won't try to shoot me when we do tell her."

Throughout Mac's explanation, the attention Jill should have been focusing on the words was lost somewhere between the feather light kiss across her knuckles and the gentle graze of the younger woman's teeth. "Uh," is what she managed. As she worked her jaw to say something more intelligent, she saw the display of her phone light up.

She groaned and reached with her freehand to answer it, "Bernarhardt."

"Hey, Claire and I need you down at the Hall," Lindsay responded.

"Now?" Jill whined, shooting an apologetic look to Mac.

"Yeah, Cindy's on her way," Lindsay said and Jill knew she was sunk.

"Okay, I'll be there shortly."

She tried to hang up, but Lindsay's question threw her, "So, how far along are you on your date?"

Jill's eyes fluttered shut, untangled her left hand and covered the bottom half of the phone with it before looking to Mac and saying quietly, "I need to meet the girls." She let the statement linger for a brief second, hoping Mac caught on to her meeting. The slight nod was all she needed before she turned her attention back to her friend, "It's…well," she bit her lip and cast a quick glance to MacKenzie before going for it, "one of the best I've ever been on."

"Sorry," Lindsay said sincerely.

"It's okay." Jill looked down at the hand that was placed on her knee and felt the soft pressure being offered in reassurance. "I'm sure I'll have more to come. I'll see you and the girls soon."

"Okay," Lindsay said before disconnecting.

Jill ended the call and dropped her phone on the table top. "So, about telling the girls…?"

Mac nodded. "No time like the present?"

Jill nodded thankfully and they stood together. "Do you need to do anything before we leave and you know you don't have to come right?"

Mac offered Jill her hand and led them out into the less crowded restaurant. "The bill is being taken care of and I know I don't, but I want to if you're sure."

Jill squeezed the hand linked with her own and nodded.

"Well then, I suggest we get our coats, a cab and hope that Lindsay's being less bitchtastic when she finds out I want to date her best friend." Mac untangled their hands to fish the claim ticket from her back pocket to hand to the attendant. The young man servicing the coat check room was quick and Jill had already had the doorman flag down a cab for them by the time Mac was helping her into her coat.

Sliding hers on, Mac then slipped into the cab behind the blonde. "You ready to go make hoopla together?"

Jill shrugged as she gave the driver the address of the Hall. "If you want, we can swing by S.W.A.T. and get you a bullet proof vest," Jill joked.


	6. Eye to Eye

**Ch. 6 – Eye to Eye**

"Augie…" Mac tried again to talk Cindy out of tracking down one of her sources at ten o'clock at night. Cindy dismissed the plaintive tone and took off up the street. It wasn't late, but it was getting there. They had spent forty-five minutes in the morgue either talking over each other or glaring.

It was borderline ludicrous. Mac knew that there would be some shock associated with her and Jill. She prepped for it, but she wasn't expecting Cindy's anger.

And boy was her Augie mad.

Mac just couldn't figure out why.

But with the way Cindy was acting, Mac being on the receiving end of the infamous Thomas Freeze Out, she knew from past experience to let the woman simmer and eventually she'd let Mac really have it. It was going to happen soon, they'd already suffered through waiting on Jill to get additional warrants needed for their victims search and the trek back to Mac's place to pick up a bike. During which, she tried to convince Cindy to not go hunt down an informant. She was met with glares, 'shut up's or a variation or combination of the two. They couldn't really talk on the ride over. Now, after having parked the bike and securing the lock, Mac looked around the neighborhood she found herself.

It reminded her of New York north of a Hundred-twenty-fifth. It was an area she never really wanted to be in when she lived in the city and with the looks of her current surroundings, she wasn't comfortable with Cindy being there either.

Mac trailed Cindy as they worked their way uphill, hands stuffed in the pockets of her riding jacket. When Cindy whipped around and jammed a finger in her chest, she wasn't all that shocked. She was a little surprised by the words that poured out of her friend's mouth. "What the hell are you thinking Mac? I mean what, you show up after a few years and turn on that damn charm and what…? Set out to hurt one of my best friends?"

Mac's posture stiffened as she backed up against the stuccoed wall of the building behind her. "I'm sorry, I what?"

"You, you and your…" Cindy growled and ran a hand through her hair. "You just…I mean really it's classic MacKenzie. You find a girl and you wine and dine her, get her all worked up and as soon as you're done having your fun and lose interest, you cut her off."

Mac's brow knitted together, immediately souring at the description Cindy painted of her. "Is that really what you think I do?"

"Well, let's see," Cindy raised her hand and started ticking off a few names, "Jessica Oiler, Stephanie Green and Jennifer Picard. I mean those are the ones that I talked to and tried to explain to them that you just weren't 'in to it' like you said."

Mac snickered. Of all the things Cindy was going to bring up, she wanted to bring up the few one night stands she had during her junior year. "That's pretty low, Cindy. I didn't make any promises to any of those girls."

"Maybe not, but you still managed to hurt them just the same. Jill's my friend, Mac. She's like fam…no, she is family," Cindy persisted.

"What about Michelle, are you forgetting about the girl I followed to New York?" Mac argued. "Sure I've had my share of involvements that weren't serious, I didn't think you'd fault me for that, but why are you forgetting about the girl I followed across the country?"

"And just how long did you and Michelle last after you moved?" Cindy spat.

"Two years, Cindy." Mac pushed off against the wall to step into Cindy's personal space. "I get that you care, but give me a little bit of credit, please."

Cindy shook her head and bit her lip.

"Why?" Mac asked, trying to gauge her friend, trying to understand why the reporter seemed so upset by the two dates, which they finally agreed upon during the ride over to the Hall, they had been on. "Why are you so upset by a couple of dates between two of your friends?"

"You should have told me and it's Jill," Cindy answered her shortly.

"I was going to when there was something to tell…"

"You told us tonight. Obviously, there's something to tell," Cindy reasoned.

Mac's eyes rolled and she retorted, "Because Jill and I agreed while we were leaving the restaurant that we wanted to see each other…"

"What does that mean?" Cindy interrupted, her arms folding across her chest.

"It means that I want to date her and she wants to date me. Christ, are we in high school and someone forgot to give me the memo?" Mac spit.

"It's Jill, Mac. You don't know her like I do." Cindy softened her tone, marginally, willing Mac to just understand, so she didn't have to get into what that really met. Her commitment-phobic best friend ran whenever the possibility of a real relationship was even hinted at. The lawyer wasn't going to change because charismatic, seemingly harmless MacKenzie St. Hill swept her off her feet. They were going to get hurt and Cindy didn't want to lose anyone in the aftermath.

"I want to," Mac persisted. "Cindy," Mac reached out and made a grab for Cindy's hands, but the reporter stepped back and out of the way. She shook off the rejection and carried on, "Look, I like Jill. I liked her the moment you introduced us. She's smart, sarcastic and she doesn't take anyone's crap. That's attractive all on its own; add that to her looks..."

"And she's also terrified of commitment, likes to cheat on her partners and usually runs screaming for the hills after a few dates…" Cindy trailed off, clamping a hand over her mouth. She shook her head and apologized, "Shit, Mac, I didn't mean…"

Mac shook her head, stopping the apology. "Nice assessment of your best friend, Cindy."

"I," Cindy stopped and fidgeted with her hands, her weight shifting from left to right foot. "It's…she's been hurt. A lot, Mac." Knowing she'd already said too much, Cindy figured if she was in for a penny, she'd might as well be in for a pound. "She's not like you. She didn't have a family that stuck by her. The closest thing she has to family is Lindsay, Claire and me."

"And I can't be that?" Mac wondered. Was she really that bad that one of the people that knew her just as well as her family thought she could be that toxic for another person?

"Do you want to be?" Cindy shot back.

Mac's eyebrow arced. It was early in the relationship. Mac was the anti-U-haul lesbian and she knew it. "I want to get to know her."

"That doesn't answer my question, Mac."

"Christ, Cindy, we just started seeing each other, I've known her a week. I'm not going to marry her anytime soon…"

"That's my point…"

"Your point? I think the fact that I want to get to know her and that I'm not trying to jump in with both feet should get you to see that I'm not out to hurt her. I think there's potential. I don't care much about her romantic history. I care about what she does with me. Besides, what about me? Aren't you worried she could hurt me just as bad?" Mac accused.

"No," the brutal way the word was spit caused Mac to step back. "You, you slither under people's skin and you can be a complete bitch to people, Mac and you know what, for some ridiculous reason they still like you. Jill, Jill isn't that type of girl. You'll shake it off, get over it and move on because you're good at that."

Mac's eyes narrowed. "Good to know you think so highly of your friends," she snapped. "Let's find whoever you're looking for so I can take you home. I'm not much interested in spending more time with you than I need to right now."

Cindy's mouth snapped shut as she watched Mac stalk off up the street.

* * *

Not for the first time, Jill sent a silent thank you to whoever was responsible for keeping Papa Joe's a twenty-four hour establishment. Their food and drinks, especially the coffee and the alcohol, where always perfect when she ordered, it was close to work and a great meeting location for the group.

"Where are they?" Lindsay asked to no one in particular as she looked out of the window from their booth. The inspector's blunt nails clicked together as she craned her neck up to look further down the street. "You don't think anything happened do you?"

Claire and Jill exchanged a curious look and the doctor motioned for Jill to take this one. The lawyer took a healthy sip of her coffee and let her eyes drift shut. It had been a trying night to say the least.

It started off great. Good food, good conversation and a beautiful woman. The night depreciated in goodness as soon as Jill took Lindsay's call. Once she and Mac arrived, hell, for the most part, broke loose. It would have been fine if Lindsay, Claire and Cindy had asked questions or made a fuss and then let it go.

No, that would have been asking too much from her friends.

Claire, as usual, told her to be careful and wished her luck.

Lindsay and Cindy, however, became terse, combative and overtly hostile. Jill was spared Cindy's ire because Mac took her away, but the lawyer was left with Lindsay. Lindsay in all her glowery, passive aggressive glory. Jill wasn't sure if she would have preferred to be left with Cindy. Of course it's not like she had much choice, she went with Lindsay and Claire to Phil Yeo's apartment to conduct a more thorough search.

Jill was about to push Lindsay back down into the booth when the whine of a motorcycle drew all three sets of eyes in the booth outside. The three women watched the two riders dismount the bike. As helmets came off, Jill could only think about how hot Mac looked in the jacket and boots she had on. Lindsay hissed, "She did not go with that woman on her bike."

Rolling her eyes, Jill put a hand on Lindsay's shoulder and pushed her down into the booth. "Chill out, Linds. Mac wouldn't let anything happen to Cindy."

"Here we go," Lindsay snapped.

"Do I need to separate you two?" Claire asked from her seat across them.

They both shook their heads, but Jill stood from the booth and slipped into the spot next to Claire. At the look the doctor gave her, Jill shrugged. "Cindy's going to want to sit next to Lindsay. I'm just being proactive."

Lindsay harrumphed and folded her arms across her chest, watching the entrance of the diner. Mac and Cindy came through the entrance a few seconds later and caught Lindsay's eye. The inspector didn't wait to bark, "She can't be here."

Mac's eyebrows climbed and she looked at Cindy who shrugged and then to Jill. The blonde crooked a finger at her, motioning her forward despite the declaration from the inspector. Jill leaned up, pecked Mac on the cheek and whispered in her ear, "Ignore her."

Mac whispered back, "I wasn't going to leave you anyhow." She pulled back and noticed Jill's smirk.

Cindy watched the exchange before sliding into the booth next Lindsay. "Might as well pull up a chair, Mac."

The woman looked behind her and grabbed a chair from a nearby table to settle in next to Jill.

"You're really going to stay?" Lindsay asked.

MacKenzie shrugged. "I'm making sure Jill gets home. If that means getting glared at…"

"I call it laser vision," Cindy supplied unhelpfully.

Mac snickered, "Or laser visioned from you until I need to take her home, then yes, Ins. Boxer, I'm staying." Mac smiled sweetly, running her hand over Jill's knee. "I don't really want involved so if it helps, pretend I'm a piece of furniture and say what you need to."

"So, Skipper," Claire butted in, "what did you find out?"

"My contact is going to discreetly ask around for a bit more information. They did say that they knew some bad heroin was circulating the city though," Cindy answered.

"Do they know who's dealing it?" Lindsay asked, turning her attention to her girlfriend.

"Nope. They'd ask without being intrusive or obvious, but from what they told me, it's fresh and hasn't circulated a lot." Cindy reached over and pulled Lindsay's half full cup of coffee towards her to drink.

"At least that may give us some time," Jill spoke up. "I've called Denise already to give her a heads up that there'll be a story in the Register tomorrow. She's going to try and get in front of this. She's woken up our press liaison to release an official statement for the city."

Mac's eyebrows rose. "You guys are quick." Her mouth snapped closed when both Cindy and Lindsay frowned her way.

"What did you find at Yeo's?" Cindy asked, hoping that they had more to go on.

"We found more dope socked away under the bed in a cubby space behind the dry wall, a few threatening notes in the garbage. It seemed like Yeo owed some very unpleasant people some money." Lindsay fished in her inside jacket pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. "See if you can find anything out about this."

Cindy took the offered piece of paper and unfolded it. The image was grainy, a copy of a letter and a tag at the bottom. The symbol was easily recognized though; the marking sort of looked like a backwards seven with a line cutting through the leg diagonally with two dots catty corner on opposite sides of the line. "That's the Do Boys second in command's symbol."

Claire's eyebrows rose, Jill snickered and Lindsay glared. "Why am I not surprised you know the personal signature of one of the meanest Asian gang's second." Lindsay plucked the piece of paper out of Cindy's fingers and declared, "You won't be publishing that."

"I wasn't planning on it. The last person to publicly out any one from the Do Boys ended up in the bay." Cindy visibly shuttered. "I'll keep the story away from the gang. I'd rather warn people than put a target on my back."

"Finally, a sensible decision," Lindsay snickered.

"That gives us someplace to start," Jill tried to further the conversation along. "What's next?"

"I need to get to the Register and start on this if we want it to hit the morning addition." Cindy turned to Lindsay, "Come with me and then go back to yours?"

"Sounds good," Lindsay agreed.

"I need to get home before Ed decides to change the locks," Claire filled them in on her plans.

Mac stood and allowed Jill and Claire out of the booth while Lindsay and Cindy prepared to leave.

"Claire, I'll see you and Jill in the morning?" the inspector asked, looking expectantly between the two women.

"Bright and early," Jill chirped as she put down a ten to cover their bill.

"Till tomorrow, ladies," Claire said, slipping on her jacket. "Mac, I'm sure we'll see each other soon."

"Goodnight, Claire," Mac offered as the doctor made her way to the door. She turned her attention to Cindy and Lindsay.

She wasn't expecting anything and it was exactly that as they both ignored her and said their goodbyes to Jill. Mac watched the exchange and waited for the two to disappear out the door before speaking up, "So, home?"

Jill rubbed her tired eyes and nodded.

* * *

A breeze picked up causing Jill to tug a little tighter on Mac's riding jacket currently draped across her shoulders. It wasn't freezing, but the air was wet and chilly. Mac, in the top she wore on their date earlier, seemed unfazed as she leaned against her bike and watched Jill.

"I'm sorry about tonight," Jill whined quietly.

"For our date ending too soon or the bounty placed on my head by Lindsay and Cindy?" Mac couldn't help tease the other woman.

Jill ducked her head. "Uh, both?"

Reaching out, Mac grabbed Jill's left hand and threaded their fingers together. "Well, the date part of the night couldn't have gone better, don't you think?"

Jill allowed herself to be tugged forward, her thighs coming to rest against Mac's bent knees. She grinned as Mac brought Jill's arms up to rest against her chest. The lawyer relaxed a little and enjoyed the warmth being offered. "You're a heater."

Mac giggled. "Yeah, it's the east coast winters. I'm immune to temperatures above freezing." Mac made her eyebrows dance and wiggled her hips.

"Hmmm," Jill hummed and ducked her head to rest in the crook of Mac's neck. She breathed in scents of citrus from Mac's shampoo. Turning her nose into the skin on display she inhaled again. She wasn't quite able to place the scent, but it was spicy and rich. "Hmm, what are you wearing?" she mumbled into the other woman's neck.

"Clothes and a leggy blonde, right now," Mac answered seriously.

That caused Jill to pull pack and swat at her shoulder. "Seriously?"

Mac's mouth quirked up on the right and she shrugged. "It's a Shea butter and Frankincense lotion if you're referring to why I smell delicious."

"Wow, and they say my ego's big." Jill bit her lip and looked down.

"My ego's right-sized, thank you very much." Mac's nose angled up defiantly. "I smell delicious, I've been told so on several different occasions." She brought a hand up and trailed it over Jill's cheek. "I'm just trying to keep up. I can't seem like a schlub next to you. Whatever will people think?"

"Schlub?" Jill mocked.

"You know, unkempt, messy, not deserving to lick the bottom of your very sexy and very stylish pumps," Mac supplied.

"I know what it means," Jill groaned playfully. "I just didn't think people under the age of seventy used the word."

"Hey, I'm trying to bring it back. Cut me some slack." Mac's face soured and she shook her head. "And let's pretend that didn't rhyme, please?"

"Nope. I'll use it to mock you later." She adjusted her position and wrapped her arms around Mac's neck. "How was Cindy?" Jill felt the woman tense under her and silently kicked herself. "Nevermind."

"No," Mac shook her head, "Cindy was…" She stopped and chewed on her lower lip. Part of her wanted to toss Cindy under the bus. Mac still wasn't happy with her friend. She was mean and intentional or not, hurtful. But, her conversation with Cindy was just that, her conversation. Jill didn't need to know the particulars and wounded or not, Mac couldn't bring herself to cause any more damage to their relationship. So she sighed and shrugged. "We'll be okay."

Jill's eyebrow quirked up.

"Really. Cindy and I will be good. We still need to work some stuff out, but she's concerned that we'll get hurt." Mac paused trying to gauge Jill's reaction. When the blonde offered little reaction, Mac further supplied, "She's being a good friend. Don't worry about anything else. What about you and Claire and Lindsay?"

Jill offered her own shrug at that. "Claire was surprised, but relatively supportive. Lindsay…I'm thinking she was similar to how Cindy reacted to you. They worry."

"You worry, too," Mac defended.

"I do, but I was also a big supporter of Lindsay finally agreeing to Cindy's multiple requests for a date," Jill told her. "Lindsay's slow to trust." Jill's cheeks puffed out before she let the air out slowly and studied Mac. "You want to come upstairs?" she ventured, hopefully.

Mac groaned. "I…" she paused and licked her lips, "I want to, Jill. I just don't think I…"

Jill didn't give Mac time to finish before pulling away and standing upright. "Again, really?"

"Jill," Mac half pleaded, "I just, I want to. Really, really want to. I just think that I want to do this right, too."

Jill's eyes narrowed as she folded her arms across her chest. "Is this about your mom?"

"My what?" Mac asked, eyebrows bunching together. "Oh, no," she rushed to explain, "I like you, a lot. I want to do this right. Me going upstairs will result in little-to-no clothing and very happy late night activities…"

"So, the problem is?" Jill pressed.

Mac frowned and pushed off the bike to stand flush against Jill. She hadn't really intended to explain herself, but judging by the look the blonde was giving her, she rethought that decision and asked instead, "Do you really want to know? And before you just say yes," Mac pressed a finger against Jill's lips, stopping the other woman from speaking, "I will always give you an honest answer; you just can't be upset by the response."

Jill shook her head and dislodged the finger. "Yes, I want to know."

"I'd like to think we have more than just a fantastic and admittedly hard to resist physical attraction. If I go upstairs, making us into more may be hard. I want to give 'us' a chance before I rock your world." Mac smiled, broad and inviting, hoping to ease some of the tension.

"So there's an 'us' now?" Jill mocked.

Mac nodded exaggeratedly and continued to smile, praying that it got her out of the semi-warm water she had put herself in rejecting Jill's advances for the second time.

"And really, rock my world?" the attorney scoffed.

The scoff was the leverage needed and Mac took it. "I'm certified gold star and an obnoxious overachiever, I promise." She leaned in and nipped the attorney's chin. "I'll make it worth the wait."

Jill pulled back slightly making sure the other woman caught her eye roll. "Fine, but if I don't see stars when we do have sex, we're done."

"Deal." Mac stepped away, took Jill's hand and led them up to Jill's stoop. "You have an early morning and I promised Ozzie an early morning jaunt."

"Ozzie?"

"My dog. You'll be properly introduced soon enough." Mac answered. "You should get some sleep and call me tomorrow to tell me where you're taking me on our next date."

"Where I'm taking you?" Jill rolled the idea around in her head, causing her to tilt her head to the side and study Mac.

"Well, yeah. You still know the city better than me." She leaned down and pecked Jill's lips, lingering briefly as she tasted the lip gloss the attorney was wearing. She didn't give Jill a chance to respond. Instead, she spun on her heel, skipped down the steps to her bike and hopped on.

"Mac!" Jill called after her, "Your jacket!"

Mac secured her helmet before flipping the visor up and answering, "Keep it. I have another and you look hot in my jacket." Snapping her visor back in place, she hit the ignition switch on the Duc, reved up the engine and sped off with Jill holding up the coat behind her.

Jill watched the lights of the bike crest and disappear behind a hill. She shook her head and opened her door, muttering, "She's crazy."


	7. Waiting and Wishing

**Ch. 7 – Waiting and Wishing**

Lindsay liked Jill's office. So much so that sometimes she wished that they met more here than they did in the morgue. Not that the inspector didn't like Claire's office either, but Jill's office lacked the smell of formaldehyde and death.

That was a plus.

The downsides to Jill's office were her friend's afternoon dalliances and the potential to have to put up with Denise Kwon if she decided to poke her head in.

Those two factors, even though the dalliances were questionable at this point since Jill hadn't shared any news of them recently, deterred them from meeting here with any frequency.

It did not stop the trial prep meetings that Lindsay never missed though.

So the inspector inhaled the scent of aged leather and legal texts for the time being and resigned herself to always having to deal with the morgue's unique odors. "Did Tam's lawyer say why they aren't pleading out?" Lindsay wondered as she looked down at her notes.

"He wants to win," Jill spoke up from the chair across from her. "And to be honest, you two," the blonde stopped and looked pointedly between Jacobi and Lindsay, "A shaky confession and circumstantial evidence…"

"We busted him with enough dope to slap him with intent to distribute," Jacobi reminded the lawyer.

"And having the same heroin as the vic isn't really a lot." Jill closed Tam's file and tossed it on the coffee table between her and the inspectors. "His lawyer has already started moaning coercion. What we have on him is knowledge of Yeo's apartment, the same heroin batch that killed Yeo and a flimsy motive."

"It sounds good to…" Lindsay started to say.

"Don't even," Jill stopped her friend. "We all know that the likelihood of Tam being the one to kill Yeo isn't high. You both told me that he didn't 'feel' right, but we've built the case anyhow."

Lindsay's arms folded across her chest and she slumped back down in her seat.

Jacobi mopped his face with his right hand and scratched along his jawline. "We won't get anyone to roll."

"I know," Jill said, shifting in her seat and uncrossing her legs. She placed her hands on bent knees and went for it, "He's also are best shot at justice for Yeo's murder."

"But you still think he could walk," Lindsay reminded her friend.

The lawyer bobbed her head. "I think he could if his lawyer is as smart as he thinks he is. There's enough there to plant the seed of reasonable doubt."

"Do you have a plan?" Jacobi asked looking between the two women. He wasn't sure if they would start arguing, but things were just now starting to get back to normal for his partner and her friends. Since Lindsay told him about Jill and that MacKenzie woman a few weeks ago, their club had been a little off.

He knew Cindy and Lindsay were good. Beyond that he was still a little, but thankfully, clueless.

"I do. It's going to depend on your testimonies. United front, strengthening the way in which the confession was taken. If his lawyer starts unearthing people for an alibi, then I'll handle that, but it's a possibility." Jill smoothed her skirt and recrossed her legs.

Lindsay looked over at Jacobi and nodded. "We can do that."

"Good. Now how's the rest of your work load?" Jill asked the duo.

"Tom wants us to get in on a bust of the Do Boys going down in a few days. He wants to see if he can tie anything else to them," Jacobi filled the prosecutor in.

Jill nodded. "Denise was talking about that. The few other bodies that were discovered because of the heroin shook a few people up."

"And it's an election year," Lindsay sing songed.

"And it's an election year," Jill agreed. "It's supposed to be a pretty big bust. Tom, Whilenheck and Denise are coordinating things with the media to have them there for the cleanup."

Lindsay's eyebrow cocked. That was news to her. The O.D.'s that came in due to the heroin were maybe a handful of users. Narc had busted, from what she was told, half a dozen dealers all pushing the same batch around. "I didn't think they'd go that far."

"If it goes bad," Jacobi surmised his partner's wariness.

"It's probably why he wants you two in on it." Jill's head tilted to the side. "In fact, that makes a lot of sense…if I were Tom. If not you two, then that would probably leave Marin and Sawyer." All three faces pinched in thought of those two in on the bust.

"Does that mean I have to say yes?" Lindsay whined.

"Afraid so," Jacobi smiled and patted his partner's knee. "We'll take a back entrance or something. Let S.W.A.T. and Narc have all the fun in the front."

Lindsay frowned. "That doesn't sound like much fun either."

Jacobi laughed, shaking his head. "Why don't we worry about that later? I'm going to head out for the day. See you tomorrow?"

"Sounds good," Lindsay waved at her partner.

"Thanks, Jacobi," Jill offered her own wave as the inspector stopped at the door.

"Anytime counselor." He smiled and left through the partially open door.

As the room settled, Lindsay had to ask, "So do you think we'll win, I mean really?"

Shrugging, Jill stood and started gathering her things. "We have a seventy-thirty shot, I think."

Lindsay grunted and looked at her phone. She typed out a quick message and said, "Come on. Claire and Cindy are waiting on us."

Slipping the strap of her tote over her shoulder she nodded and parroted Lindsay's goodbye to Jacobi back to her, "Sounds good."

* * *

"_Why?_" Jill typed out her reply to Mac's cancellation of their date tonight on her Blackberry and hit 'send'. She let her friends' chatter fade and focused on the string of text messages between her and her girlfriend.

This was the first date that Mac had had to cancel, but Jill didn't really care. It had been a little over four weeks since they started seeing each other and tonight she was supposed to spend the night at Mac's place.

In four weeks, Jill had only managed to get the other woman topless once. Mac had promised a more fulfilling evening for tonight and now…with four weeks of pent up frustration and annoyance of being rejected, or romanced as Mac liked to put it, she was beyond frustrated.

"_System & network issues. I'll be up all night running diagnostics with my team,_" was Mac's reply a few seconds later. "_I'm sorry. Make it up to you tomorrow? =0/_"

Jill grunted and rolled her eyes. "_I thought you had something planned for us tomorrow?_"

"_Do. But left the night after open._" Mac's reply came almost instantly.

"_Fine,_" Jill typed the short reply and dropped her phone into her purse. She tilted her head back against the couch, pinched the bridge of her nose and let out a grumbling sigh. "Does she do this to all of her girlfriends?" she asked to no one in particular, but knew that Cindy was going to be the one to answer.

Since the initial round of hostility, everyone had sort of fallen into some sort of truce that suited Jill just fine. Mac kept her interaction with the group to a minimum and hung out with Cindy only a handful times since she learned of Jill and Mac's relationship. Neither woman was too forthcoming with the details on the truce they'd worked out.

"What?" Lindsay spoke up from next to her.

Jill tilted her head up and let her hand fall to her lap. "MacKenzie. I mean does she do this with all of her girlfriends or is it just me? I'm honestly ready to pop and she goes and cancels on me tonight." She narrowed her eyes at Cindy and hissed, "Is this something with her? Work up her women and not deliver?"

Cindy's eyes grew large and saucer-like. She held up her hands in reply. Honestly, she had no clue. Since Mac's return, Cindy had come to a few conclusions about her friend. The first being that the core of her personality was still Mac. One hundred percent, she was still the girl that had been Cindy's rock the first two years of college. The second conclusion was that Mac's approach to relationships had changed, at least from what she could tell by the interaction she witnessed between her best friend and oldest friend.

But why Jill was asking her this, she had no clue. "Uhm , don't know…?"

Jill's face soured and she pleaded, "Come on, Cindy Lou." She pressed her palms together in supplication and whined a little more, "Did she do this with you?"

"Jill," Lindsay hissed, "I really don't need to know what they did…"

"Woah, what? Huh? Who did what with who?" Cindy sputtered looking between her girlfriend and friend. She was met with blank stares so she turned to Claire for help. "What?"

Claire didn't hide the amusement she felt at the current situation and shrugged. "Did Mac make you wait before you had sex?"

Cindy's draw dropped open as she started shaking her head. Her mind searched through her conversations about Mac with her friends trying to figure out if she ever told them or hinted at the idea that her and Mac had…her face pinched at the thought and she shook her head to clear the images. "Okay," she held up her hand as she drew out the word. Her mind going over the first two weeks of Mac's arrival. Lindsay's attitude issues before she found out Jill and Mac were dating. The pieces began to fall in to place as the heel of her palm connected with her forehead.

How could she have been so blind? She remembered the night she introduced Mac, the subsequent run-ins with her and the club. Of course…

"Mac and I have never and will never have sex," Cindy barked.

"Skipper," Claire warned lightly.

Cindy's head whipped around to her friend and she shook her head again. "No, really. Maybe it's my fault that you guys think that, but I just didn't…Mac and I didn't think that we…" She trailed off at the disbelieving looks being directed her way and tried another approach. "Look, Mac's hot. I know. She's funny and she's caring and loyal and okay…yeah, like obviously," she pointed at Lindsay, "sort of my type, but Mac's also my sister from another mister. That would be…" Cindy shuddered.

"So you two never…" Lindsay tried to clarify against her better judgment.

"Never. We never even thought about it," Cindy reassured her girlfriend. "That's why you got all jealous and mean."

Lindsay's lips were clamped between her teeth and she gave a little shrug.

"But I thought for sure," Jill wiggled a finger at her friend. "You two were all touchy-feely and 'Augie' this and 'Daddy' that."

"Yeah, 'cause she's like the sister I always wanted. She watched out for me…like a sibling," Cindy enunciated 'sibling' slowly so that they would get the message. "Incest isn't really a turn on ladies."

"Oh," Jill and Lindsay said at the same time. The two women exchanged looks as their shoulders slumped.

"You two haven't had sex yet?" Claire asked from across them.

"No!" Jill nearly shouted as the conversation was brought back to her original gripe. "No sex. I don't go four weeks without sex. I need sex. Mac hasn't put out yet."

The three other women chuckled at the lawyer's expense. Lindsay patted Jill's knee. "Sounds horrible," she teased.

"Bite me, Boxer," Jill snipped. "She says all the right things and does them too. It's just…"

"The sex," Claire ribbed.

"Yes!" Jill's hand shot up in the air for added emphasis. "She wanted to wait, I guess, is what she said."

Cindy's eyebrow perked up at that bit of information, but she remained tight lipped.

Jill took notice of Cindy's reaction and pressed, "What do you know?"

Cindy shook her head and opted for a half truth, "She hasn't really said anything beyond her liking you."

Jill rolled her eyes. "Normally, it's obvious, but she's all…tonight we were supposed to…"

"Ah, well," Cindy swallowed, "if she…I'm sure her cancelling upset her too." The least she could offer Mac was a little defense and maybe some consolation for Jill. "She's into you, Jill. If Mac does something, there's usually a good reason behind it."

Jill's arms folded across her chest and she huffed. "That doesn't help."

The three other women chuckled at the frustrated attorney.

Claire rolled over on the stool she was sitting on and patted Jill's knee. "Just think about how much fun you'll have when it does happen."

"I'm kind of surprised you haven't gotten someone else to scratch that itch," Lindsay teased.

Jill angled her head towards Lindsay and frowned. The blonde would argue, but the inspector was right. She hadn't really looked at anyone since Mac came along. Her brow knitted together as she did the only thing she could think of and smacked Lindsay in the stomach.

* * *

Lindsay shut the door to their unmarked and adjusted the gun at her hip. She squinted behind the sunglasses perched on her nose, surprised the fog in the morning had burnt off relatively quick. She looked over at Jacobi and the house they were in front of. Much like the other houses in the neighborhood, it was classic San Francisco. Tall and skinny with a postage stamp front yard. The colors of the house were green and brown that looked far more inviting that it sounded.

"Did Tom say that our suitcase body was for sure this girl?" Jacobi asked as he pulled a pack of gum from his pocket and offered a stick of Big Red to Lindsay.

"He said that the timeframes kind of match and since we know the vic was Caucasian, female and within the age range, we should see if we can get a DNA sample," Lindsay filled in. She took the stick of gum, unwrapped it and popped it in her mouth. The wrapper went into her pocket for later and she started up the walkway.

Jacobi pressed the doorbell and Lindsay's right hand gripped her left wrist, both waiting for someone to answer the door. Seconds ticked by and the burn from the cinnamon was welcome. The onions she had on her burger had started to leave an unpleasant aftertaste.

She looked up as the front door lock clicked and it swung open. Behind the dusty screen door, a woman that Lindsay put in her late fifties answered the door. "Hi, ma'am. I'm Ins. Boxer and this my partner, Ins. Jacobi. We're with the San Francisco Police Department and we'd like to ask you a few questions about the missing persons report you filed for Amy Delgado."

The woman's features clouded over at the mention of her daughter and Lindsay couldn't help but feel a little sympathetic. "Of course," Mrs. Delgado replied, pushing open the door and ushering the two inspectors in. "We already spoke with two officers, though. Have you found her?" she asked hopefully.

Jacobi placed a comforting hand on the woman's arm and shook his head. "No, ma'am. We're just doing a routine follow up and were hoping you had something we could take a sample of DNA from?"

Tears welled in the woman's eyes and Lindsay took point, leading her to the front room. The couch she sat on was floral print and well cared for. Picking up a box of tissue from the coffee table in front of them, Lindsay offered the weeping woman one.

"Thank you, I'm sorry…it's just…" She blew her nose and forged ahead, "Amy's a responsible young woman. This isn't…you can't help but think…."

"There's nothing to think yet, Mrs. Delgado. We're just doing some follow up and like my partner said, we'd like to take a sample of DNA. Maybe she left a toothbrush here or something?" Lindsay asked, her voice taking on a soothing timber to try and calm the woman down.

Mrs. Delgado nodded and sniffled a little more into the crumpled tissue in her hands. "She has a room upstairs."

"Would you mind if we…" Jacobi asked as he stood. "We won't be long."

The woman only offered a nod as the duo stood and made their way up the polished, oak steps to the second floor of the house. The hallway was merely a series of doors and thankfully, Amy's room was easy to spot. Her name on a California license plate was screwed into the upper portion.

Lindsay eased the door open and stepped over the threshold to the cream colored, wall papered room. Where the wall paper wasn't visible was where it was covered by posters. Jacobi asked, "What's a New Pornagrapher and the Broken Social Scene?"

Lindsay snickered. "Music or it's supposed to be. Cindy listens to Broken Social Scene."

Jacobi bobbed his head. "How old is she again?" he couldn't help the gentle teasing. Silently, he thought the two together were a perfect match. Lindsay had been through too much in her thirty-seven years to retain the carefree spirit of youth. Cindy was jaded just enough to find Lindsay's cynicism endearing. Jacobi, well, he just thought it was sweet.

Rolling her eyes, she stuck her middle finger up at him and then slipped on a pair of gloves. "It doesn't look like the uni's that came to take the report did any searching. You want to see if we can find anything?"

Jacobi was already a step ahead of her with his own pair of gloves and rifling through a chest of drawers off to the side of the bed. "It's worth a look."

Lindsay's mouth opened to speak, but snapped her jaw shut when she noticed the opened door. Crossing the room in two quick, long strides, she shut the door softly and then spoke, "If we get a match, you're telling the parents."

That caused Jacobi to stand straight up and look at his partner. He used his pointer finger and poked himself in the chest, shaking his head. "Not happening."

"Come on, partner. You owe me…" Lindsay whined.

"First of all, we don't know the body and this girl are a match and second, how in the hell do I owe you? Wasn't it me that covered for you when you took off with Cindy right before the Valentine's Day weekend to 'follow-up' on a lead?" He air quoted 'follow-up' and glared at his partner.

Lindsay's shoulders slumped as she stomped her foot. "Paper, rock, scissors?" she tried.

The man just rolled his eyes and went back to searching the room.


	8. Pieces and Parts

**Ch. 8 – Pieces and Parts**

Lindsay looked down at her empty cup of coffee, then to her friends' dwindling cups and let her gaze sweep around a very busy, very chaotic Papa Joe's. The two servers, Tessa and Neace were at tables on the other side of the restaurant taking care of booths full of customers. Making an executive decision, she slipped from the booth and headed behind the counter towards the coffee machine.

Taking both the decaf and regular pots sitting on the warmers, she sauntered back to her table and filled up Claire's with decaf and topped off her's, Cindy's and Jill's with regular.

"Did you take a part time job?" Jill smirked around the top of her fresh mug.

Sticking her tongue out, she responded playfully, "I'd make that uniform look good."

This earned a titter of laughter from her friends and made Cindy purr, "You make most uniforms look good." The reporter winked at her girlfriend, enjoying the hint of color dusting her lover's cheeks.

Lindsay rolled her eyes, opted not to respond and went to set the pots back in their respectful places. "Thanks," Neace said as she rounded the corner. "I owe you one." The woman looked a little frazzled causing Lindsay to wave her off.

"No trouble, take care of the other customers." The inspector made her way back over to her table and slipped in next to Cindy. She took a sip of her coffee, relishing in the added heat and taste slipping down her throat before starting the conversation back up, "So, we're still waiting on the DNA results to come back for Delgado. Claire, do we know how long it's going to take?"

The doctor set down her cup and toyed with the napkin next to it, remembering the schedule for testing. "It's going to be three maybe four days at least." She sighed and asked, "Do you and Warren have any other leads?" it was doubtful seeing as how there was nothing left of the partial remains to get a clear I.D. from. The doctor did hold out a bit of hope though. Stranger things had happened in her world. She watched Lindsay shake her head and let her shoulders slump. "Thought so. I'm trying to work out the weapon used in her killing. I'm having a hell of a time trying to figure out what could have done that."

"I'd like to know where the rest of her is," Lindsay groused and slumped against her girlfriend. Her longer form creating a bit of an awkward angle to cuddle up next to Cindy, but she did anyhow.

"There has to be more to her body, but nothing's come in. I think it's probably at the landfill by now…if it hadn't been for those kids dumpster diving." Claire thought out loud and looked out at the dusky sky.

"I know the case took a back burner for the other three going on, but Jacobi and I did some prelim work on the suitcase at least. It was run of the mill TravelStar. They're sold everywhere and there's no batch or serial numbers to do a trace. That was a dead end," Lindsay added.

"What about following up with the roommate?" Jill asked from next to Claire.

"We talked about it and we're not sure we want to spook her until we know for sure if the body is Amy Delgado. We did talk to neighbors in the area, and there was nothing there. Jacobi and I spent a good portion of this afternoon going through traffic video, but didn't see anything." Lindsay perked up as Cindy ran her hand down the length of her arm and threaded their fingers together. The shorter woman's palm resting flat over top the back of Lindsay's hand on her thigh.

"I could go talk to her," Cindy offered. "I could play the 'doing a story' thing to help find her. Get some more personal information; see if she was actually seeing anyone."

"I'll go with you," Lindsay immediately offered.

Cindy just shook her head and shut the idea down. "You have realized that you are a cop, right?"

The snarky reply caused Lindsay to sit up a bit straighter and she retorted, "What's that supposed to mean?"

The two across the couple snickered while the reporter answered, "Unless they really have to, people won't talk to you, Linds."

"You're a little intimidating, sweetie," Claire offered in sympathy.

"Cindy's more their age, they'll talk kid lingo and she'll be in. Let Cindy Lou ride solo," Jill teased. "You're old and will scare them away."

Rolling her eyes, Lindsay jabbed a finger at Jill. "You're just as much of a cradle robber as me at this point. How old is MacKenzie?"

Jill sucked in her lips and glared.

"Twenty-seven," Cindy supplied much to Jill's annoyance. "But the roommate will talk a little more freely without you there, babe. I'll just be polite and ask some questions, see if anything comes up."

"Fine," Lindsay finally relented and looked up at the distinct whine of a sports bike pulling up. Having come to recognize the figure, Lindsay piped up, "Speaking of your toddler, Jill, she's here."

The attorney's foot shot out and connected with Lindsay's shin before she smiled and slipped free from the booth. "For that, you're covering my part of the bill."

"One, ouch. And two, how's that even fair?" Lindsay winced as she rubbed the spot Jill connected with on her leg.

"Who cares?" Jill rolled her eyes.

"Hi," Mac said slipping in next to Jill. She laced an arm around the smaller woman's waist and smiled at the table.

"Daddy," Cindy greeted smiling.

"Mac," Claire grinned, enjoying the way the couple looked together.

Lindsay gave a grunt in greeting and continued to glare at Jill.

The lawyer stuck her tongue out her friend before turning to girlfriend and pecked the slightly taller woman's lips. She pulled back smiling and whispered, "Hi."

Mac returned the smile with an upward quirk of her lips and responded, "Hello to you too. Ready?"

"Yep," Jill affirmed and turned to her group. "I'll talk to you ladies tomorrow and please, please, please, only call me if you really need a warrant."

"Augie," Mac looked over at her friend, "Hide your girlfriend's phone, please? For me?"

Cindy waved them away. "Go, have fun. We'll try not to have to interrupt."

Jill slipped her hand in Mac's and gave it a tug. "Come on, that's the best offer I'm going to get."

Mac stumbled a few steps before righting herself and sending a wave over her shoulder at the group.

* * *

Relaxing against the wall across from Mac's apartment door, Jill stuffed her hands in the pockets of her girlfriend's jacket. She rested her head against the cool stucco and observed a fumbling MacKenzie from behind. In snug blue jeans, black riding boots and the black and white riding jacket that was covering a form fitting button-up, the woman couldn't have been sexier.

A slow smirk covered Jill's lips and she knew that Mac probably could, but she'd need to get them inside if that were to happen. Being arrested for public indecency wasn't any fun.

"Ah-ha!" Mac let out a little louder than what was decent for the hour. "I'll get the hang of these locks eventually," she grumbled a little more quietly as the door to her home swung open.

Jill pushed off the wall as Mac turned and beckoned her forward. The attorney decided to be helpful and grabbed their riding helmets and her overnight bag from the floor as Mac ushered in. Mac picked up the two grocery bags and gently kicked her front door closed as Ozzie came scrambling out of her room.

He let out a growly, happy greeting that usually freaked people out when they first met him. Mac thought she missed out on calling him Chewbacca because that's exactly what he sounded like when he was excited and greeting people. She dropped the grocery bags and leaned over to offer her dog the attention he required after her absence most of the day.

She scratched behind his ears and then worked her short nails down the length of his body. The dog moved with her movements so that Mac was left with his hind quarter's right under her nose and she scratched the back of his haunches before he was fully satisfied. From there he trotted over to Jill and required similar attention. Mac laughed at the two who ended on the floor, Ozzie's nub thumping against the hardwood floor and Jill trying to prevent a tongue bath to the face.

"Ozzie, leave it," Mac barked at him and picked up the groceries they bought at the bodega right across the street from her apartment. She set them on the counter and began emptying the wine, beer and snacks Jill required.

"Should he go for a walk?" Jill asked as she slipped onto one of the stools in front of the kitchen counter.

"Yeah, if you don't mind, we can go and let him do his business. I ran with him this morning so it won't take but a few minutes," Mac explained.

"Well, why don't you get settled," Jill hopped up from her seat and grabbed Ozzie's leash from the side of the fridge. "And I'll take the dog out." She leaned towards Mac and pressed a kiss to the side of the woman's neck.

Mac's head tilted to offer Jill better access as she hummed, "You're okay with potentially having to pick up dog poop?"

Jill shrugged and spun her girlfriend around to face her. "It's not a gory dead body. I can deal with some poop." She pressed forward and dropped a full kiss to waiting lips. Jill let her tongue run over pouty lips, enjoying the taste of the fruity flavored lip gloss Mac favored. She pulled away licking her lips and humming. "Come on, Oz-monster; let's go do your business."

Mac watched as Jill clipped on her dog's leash, grabbed the doggie bags by the front door and sauntered out. Before Jill could fully shut the door, she couldn't help but call out, "Let him off his leash if there are any creepers."

Jill's laugh filled the apartment before the door clicked shut. She knew that if Ozzie did have to go, he wouldn't take long. Unless they were going to a park or on a jog, the dog preferred to stay inside and went quickly. Mac took advantage of the time she had, putting the few groceries away, putting her riding gear in the front closet and straightening up the front room.

Plugging her phone into the home unit, she accessed Pandora and put on her Blues station, softly humming along to Keb' Mo'. She headed back to her room to assess the damage her dog had done, surprised with only a few tattered pieces of his favorite chew toy, a pair of her old running shoes, spotted the floor.

Just as she was coming down the hall after picking up her room, Ozzie slipped in the opening front door followed by a laughing Jill. "What?" Mac asked as Ozzie went straight for his water dish.

Jill shook her head. "Your dog, he's a little crazy and has the bladder of a camel." Jill set the unused doggie bags where she had picked them up.

Mac slipped Ozzie's leash from Jill's loose grasp, tossed it on the chair in the living room and gathered the blonde in her arms. "He's enthusiastic. Good for us. Bad for anyone that he doesn't like." She wiggled her eyebrows as Jill buried her head in the crook of her neck.

Mac took advantage of their positions, swaying them gently to a classic T-Bone Walker song. Her left hand trailed up Jill's back, then down gain. Jill tilted her head up, urging Mac to close the distance between them. The other women complied and offered a soft kiss before peppering Jill's jaw line and swooping down for a slow, calculated assault along the woman's neck.

Jill let herself be carried off in the swirl of sensations and the emotion Mac was causing. She barely registered the whispered request, "Can I take you to bed?"

Relief flooded through the older woman, knowing that her dry spell was about to come to an end. She smiled and pulled away nodding. "If you didn't, I was going to have to hurt you."

Mac wiggled her eyebrows and led her down the hall. "The nights still young. You may yet."

* * *

Lindsay keyed in on the muttering Cindy was doing in the bedroom, shuffling around some of her clothes so that the reporter would have a bit more space for her stuff and grinned. Sure they still weren't making anything official and sure Cindy still thought it was too soon to be discussing them living together.

Lindsay was holding out a little bit of hope and also, considering some of the things that Claire had annoyingly pointed out a few weeks ago. Lindsay's apartment was her apartment. From the mismatched, comfortable furniture to the minimal decorations and the few personal touches Lindsay had made time to add, this was her space. Not Cindy's. Not her's and Cindy's. Just her's.

When Cindy wanted to hang out and work from here, she was stuck sitting either on the couch or the kitchen table and neither were ideal. On those days when Cindy stayed here and worked, Lindsay came home to a Cindy that was a little crankier, a little sorer and a little less fun.

Lindsay wasn't about to go apartment hunting anytime soon, but she figured in a month or so, she'd suggest the idea of looking for a new place, maybe with two bedrooms, one to turn into an office and invite Cindy along. That way, Cindy could pick something out she liked and Lindsay could put it in an office for when Cindy did want to work from home.

The plan was carefully constructed and one she thought would go over well, provided the reporter didn't see through the partial ruse. So for now, Lindsay let the easy smile spread across her face as she tuned out the T.V., listened to her girlfriend instead and read over the reports Jacobi had asked her to.

Martha came trotting out of the bedroom a few minutes later, tail tucked between her legs. Lindsay's eyebrow quirked as Cindy stomped out a few seconds later. "Do you remember those shoes I was looking for last week?" she bit the question off, pointing one shoe, presumably the shoe in question, at the inspector and planted her free hand on her hip.

Knowing that if she spoke, Lindsay would end up in a fit of laughter, she wisely just shook her head and sandwiched her lips between her teeth.

"Do you know what I found under the bed?" Cindy glared down at Martha, who was smart enough to lie down in front of Lindsay and ignore the chatter above her.

Lindsay repeated her previous response, but this time, she closed the open file in her hands and tossed it on the coffee table.

"Martha thought it'd make an excellent chew toy and it ended up under the bed." Cindy held the shoe to the side to show the damage done by her dog.

"It's why I put my shoes in the closet and make sure the door's shut." Lindsay let her hand drop and soothed down the silky coat on Martha's back.

Cindy's ire slowly melted at she looked at the two on and by the couch. "Still," she whined a little and tossed the shoe on the recliner. Knowing it was a lost cause, the redhead's shoulders slumped and she shuffled to her end of the couch. Automatically, long legs lifted up to allow her to sit down before settling back down across her lap.

Lindsay swung her left leg over Cindy's head, tugged the other woman's arm and pulled her down so that Cindy's head rested right below the inspector's chest. She ran a hand through red locks and conceded, "If it will help, I'll make sure there's more space at the bottom so the shoe situation is easier."

"Hmm," Cindy hummed, "that would help." She relaxed against the taller woman and adjusted her lower half to rest more comfortably along Lindsay's length. "This is nice."

"What?" Lindsay rasped extending the stroke of her hand to trail down Cindy's back.

"The down time. It's not even eight yet and we're both here…" Cindy's thoughts were cut off by Lindsay's free hand pinching her lips together.

"Cindy Thomas, I love you, but I swear if you jinx us, I'll…" Lindsay warned.

"Mhll aut," the reporter mumbled.

Lindsay let go of her lips and asked, "Eh?"

"I asked, 'you'll what'?" she clarified.

"I don't know, but it will be bad. If you keep on talking like that, I'll end up getting a call," Lindsay reasoned. It was an unwritten law and one that the inspector loathed to break.

"Yeah, Jill might hurt us," Cindy snickered. "Mac too for that matter." Cindy's head popped up from its position on Lindsay's stomach and she followed up, "Speaking of though, really, Linds? I mean, you couldn't have just asked me?"

The brunette's brow furrowed at the accusatory tone before realization finally caught on and she justified, "Oh please, like if a college friend of mine hadn't shown up and I was all nick name this and touchy that," Lindsay grabbed on to Cindy's arm and offered it a few firm strokes for example, "that you wouldn't have thought the same thing."

Cindy pulled her arm away and shrugged. "Maybe, but I wouldn't have been an assh…as hostile…"

Lindsay laughed, "No, you'd go for the glarey, passive aggressive thing and wouldn't have acknowledged her existence. For what it's worth," Lindsay's tone softened, "I'm sorry about that."

"Yeah, yeah," Cindy waved her off and settled back down to her original spot. "Is Claire okay?" Cindy wondered as she took hold of Lindsay's offered hand and kissed the inspector's most prominent knuckle.

"I think…I don't know. Ed's on her about the amount of time that she spends at work," Lindsay answered honestly.

"Is there anything we can do, like have club meetings at her house or I dunno, not call her unless we absolutely need her?" Cindy wondered.

"I don't know. We can ask and see. What I do know is that the night is young. You're here and not tired. I'm here and not tired." Lindsay wiggled her hips to get Cindy to look up at her. As their eyes met, Lindsay smiled. "I love our friends. Jill's probably getting lucky. Claire's at home and we're here, alone. We don't really need to talk about them anymore, do we?"

"Well," Cindy drawled, "we did just see them less than two hours ago. I suppose I could find something else to do with our time together."

"Poker?" Lindsay joked.

"Unless it's strip poker, not really what I had in mind, inspector." Cindy grinned up at her girlfriend, admiring the way the unruly head of hair fell. A few particular strands fell casually across Lindsay's forehead. Cindy reached up and smoothed them back, her hand trailing down as she tucked them away to stop above Lindsay's breasts.

"Why don't we go the bedroom and figure this out then?" Lindsay suggested, the right corner of her mouth curling upwards.

Cindy didn't have to be told twice as she scrambled and pulled Lindsay up from the couch. "Love the way you think."

"I'm fond of it," Lindsay laughed as they headed to their room. She quietly shut the door and then spun Cindy around to back up against it. Her fingers worked quickly on the button and zipper to Cindy's jeans. Sinking to her knees, she looked up at the reporter before placing a gentle kiss across a triangle of bare skin.


	9. Empty the Sky

**Ch. 9 – Empty the Sky**

Cindy reviewed her email to her boss one last time before hitting send from her phone. With any luck the brief explanation about the three part expose she was writing on the San Francisco P.D. and their raid on the Do Boys would be well received and keep her editor out of her hair until Thursday.

She dumped her phone into her open purse by her feet and looked up as Claire marched through the office door. "Skipper," the doctor greeted and asked, "No Lindsay and Jill?"

"Not yet," Cindy answered. "Jill's still going to be in court, but Lindsay should be here…"

"Sorry, sorry," Lindsay apologized walking inside before Cindy had a chance to explain. "Stupid defense hack," she grumbled, kissing the top of Cindy's head and settling in next to the redhead on the couch.

"Fun day in court?" Claire asked as she rifled through the papers on her desk trying to find the report Lindsay would need.

"The usual. Jill was doing a recross when I left her, so she won't be here, but I hear you have good news," Lindsay filled them in.

Claire pulled at the group of brown folders and started at the top. She went through three before finding the one that she needed. "I do." She came around the desk and sat across from the couch. "Well, good for us, bad for the family. Amy Delgado is a match. You and Jacobi can pay them a visit."

Lindsay reached out and took the offered file. Thumbing it open, she looked over the DNA comparisons and findings written out in text on the right side. She gnawed her lower lip and flipped a few pages back, her eyebrow cocking at a few pictures of bone fragments and the marking embedded in the bone.

"Well, I talked to the roommate who is pretty shaken up still. She said that Amy was pretty consistent. Always there, clean, polite and sort of kept to herself. She had a few friends," Cindy pulled a folded piece of notebook paper out of her jacket pocket and handed it off to her girlfriend, "Tiffany was kind enough to write down their names and phone numbers for me."

Lindsay opened the paper and looked over the two names. "Those are all of her friends?"

"Yeah, besides the roommate those two were the only ones that Amy talked to on a regular basis. The boy, Derek Shue, has been friends with Amy since her and Tiffany started living together last year. The other girl, Destiny Riggs was newer. Apparently, the two met in a critical analysis class. They bonded over their crazy professor." Cindy gave a small shrug.

"So normal, unsuspecting co-ed?" Claire ventured.

"Pretty much. It's sad really. This was her last semester here. She was going to spend her last two semesters in Europe. Tiffany said Amy's minor was in European Lit." Cindy rested her head on Lindsay's shoulder and sighed.

"Crappy," Lindsay surmised, closing the file and setting it on her lap.

"Yes, well, I can add to that," Claire spoke up. "I can't determine a cause of death. We're missing pieces of her," all three winced at the implication. "I can at least tell you how she ended up in pieces."

Lindsay perked up. "You sure?"

Claire nodded and stood. "It took a bit of imagination, but I'm almost a hundred percent certain that," she stood as she spoke and moved to her open door and stuck her head behind it, "this is what chopped her in pieces." She turned around and hefted a splitting axe.

Two sets of eyes grew large as Claire approached them.

"And you still haven't found the rest of her?" Cindy asked.

"I think she's probably in a landfill. What's left of her anyhow," Lindsay answered the reporter then asked Claire, "How'd you match it?"

"The markings on the bone. We tried a different set of weapons. This axe specifically, the type anyhow, matched the markings in the bone fragments perfectly." The weapon twirled in Claire's hand before she set it down to rest against an unused chair.

Lindsay sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "When do you think you'll be ready to release the remains to the family? I'd like to at least give them a little bit of closure."

"Forensically, I have everything that I need. They can arrange pick up whenever they'd like," Claire answered, knowing that she had enough samples if she needed. It was hard enough on the families that came through her doors collecting loved ones, but to tell them they had to wait any longer than necessary was just cruel.

"Okay," Lindsay nodded. "I'll grab Jacobi and we'll go inform the family. Can you, uh, how exactly are you going to package what's left?"

"There isn't a lot. I'll lay the remains out if they insist on coming down, but I think it would be best to arrange with a funeral home and I can prep whoever they decide on," Claire advised.

Lindsay stood and tucked the file under her arm. "Thanks," she said quietly and gave Claire's shoulder a squeeze. She turned to Cindy, "I'll call you later."

"I'm just going to head to your place after work," Cindy informed her.

"'Kay. Bye, ladies," Lindsay offered before heading out the door to track down her partner.

* * *

The ride from the Delgado residence to the student apartment complex Amy lived in was quiet. There were a lot of things Lindsay loved about her job, the sound of handcuffs ratcheting around guilty wrists, the look on a victim's face when they don't have to be afraid anymore, the relief on the faces of loved ones when things work out well and if she were being honest, running down a suspect and catching them were fun too.

Some things she hated. Notifying families that their loved one wasn't coming home was up there with having to tell a victim that there wasn't enough evidence or information for them to do anything. The feeling of watching a perp slip through her fingers was equally frustrating. The Delgados didn't take the information any better than most of the families she'd had to inform over the course of her career. The wife crumbled and the husband shortly after his wife. Amy was an only child.

Somehow, that always made it a little bit worse.

"You get to do the next notification," Lindsay grumbled just as Jacobi pulled the car up to the curbside and put it in park.

The man next to her sighed, but agreed, "Okay."

"So," Lindsay looked out of her window and up at the building, "how do you want to go about this?"

"I've been reviewing the case notes, the uni's didn't do a bang up job with following up…"

"They didn't have a body and there was no…" Lindsay tried to interject the buildup.

She failed.

"Lindsay, don't. That's no excuse for bullshit work. The case should have been handed off to an investigative team to do the follow up. It wasn't. They didn't bother putting together a time line for the girl and they did little follow up," Jacobi groused

Lindsay put her hands up and shut up. She wasn't a fan for half-assed work either, but she could sympathize with the underpaid uni's…most times. Unless they were screwing up her crime scene and then it didn't matter who they were.

"I figure we check with security first, see what we can find out there. Then we'll go talk to the roommate and the list of friends that Cindy got for us." Jacobi shouldered open his door and Lindsay followed.

"Cindy talked to Jill right after court. She's going to have financial and phone records for us when we get back to the station," Lindsay looked up from her phone. She keyed away from the text message and looked up at Jacobi.

Her partner nodded and held the door open for her. The lobby was generic at best. The only thing there besides poorly aged linoleum tile was a bank of mailboxes and a security desk. Behind the desk were two sets of glass doors that looked like they needed a fob for entrance.

"Where did Cindy talk to the roommate?" Jacobi whispered as they approached the desk and the dopey security guard stationed there.

Lindsay shrugged not really sure. "Maybe outside of a class or this building?" she guessed.

Jacobi put a hand on her left arm to halt their progress. His bushy right eyebrow raised in question. His lips puffed and pursed in annoyance. "And knowing Cindy…"

Rolling her eyes, Lindsay's shoulders drooped and she admitted, "Probably, my wonderful girlfriend, got inside somehow and dropped by the room."

"Which begs questions of how lax security could possibly be around here…"

"Oh, please, Jacobi. You've seen Cindy. She looks about as dangerous as Jackie Turner from the pep squad at my high school," Lindsay groused.

Jacobi's hands went to his hips, pushing back his sports coat and smirking at Lindsay. "Now I could either lay into you for the dig on Cindy's age, the stereotypes or I can make fun of you about the pep squad. Would you like to pick?"

"You know what I meant," Lindsay growled.

Jacobi waved his finger. "We all know looks are deceiving. I was just pointing out that if Cindy can talk her way into this place, then it must not be too hard to do."

"Don't underestimate her ability to babble someone into a coma so she can slip in the door," Lindsay joked.

"That girl can talk," Jacobi agreed as he flashed his badge at the guard. "Hi, I'm Ins. Jacobi, this is Ins. Boxer."

"David James," the guard introduced himself, standing to offer the inspectors his hand.

"Mr. James, you have a resident here, Amy Delgado. I'm afraid to say that she's passed away and we need access to some of the security logs and residents for questioning," Jacobi left no room for questions in his approach.

"I…" David stammered, clearly put off. "We can't just…"

"Mr. James," Lindsay stepped up, dropped her voice and leaned over the desk, "Our D.D.A. is already working on getting warrants for financial and phone information. You can help us here now or we can wait for Counselor Bernhardt to bring us the other paperwork."

The man's Adams apple bobbed up and down. His lips parted to answer before Lindsay warned him, "I get really, really mean when I have to wait." She smiled at him. "Think about how mean you want me to be to you before you answer."

"Uhm," he licked his lips, "what do you need?"

Jacobi pulled out a pen, his notepad and began writing, "We'll need the fob records for the dates listed here, who they belong too and security tapes if you have them and the numbers to the residences of these students." He scribbled quickly then tore the sheet free to pass over to the guard.

Lindsay reached out and patted the stubbly cheek of the man and cooed, "You be quick and thorough about it, Davey."

* * *

Mac leaned against the open door to Jill's office and watched her girlfriend at work. The blonde had been scowling at two differing stacks of paperwork and taking notes since Mac had showed up. That was at least three minutes ago and Jill had yet to take notice that anyone was watching her.

Finally deciding that she'd been creepy long enough, Mac wrapped her knuckles on the open door to her left and said, "I can't believe they just let anyone in here, can you?" She tilted her head and grinned.

Blinking, Jill looked up and focused in on Mac standing in the doorway, the woman's shaggy dark hair slanted away from her face and bared a portion of creamy brown skin that she wanted to put her mouth on. She did decide to play along though, "Was there something I can help you with ma'am? I'm sure I can find whoever you're looking for."

Mac launched herself away from the door and stepped through, bringing along with her the bag of takeout she brought for Jill. "I was trying to find my girlfriend. About yea high," Mac laid her hand flat and leveled it about Jill's height, "blonde hair, blue eyes, killer legs. You wouldn't have happened to see her around here would you? I brought her dinner since she canceled our plans."

Jill stood, rounded the large oak desk and said, "I'll keep an eye out for her, but…" she trailed off, running a fingernail down the exposed portion of her chest, popped the button on her blouse keeping her bra from being visible and continued, "wouldn't you rather have dinner with me?"

A shiver ran down Mac's spine at Jill's tone, low and seductive. Her mouth dried up as she saw the teal lace of her girlfriend's bra peak through the dark purple blouse. Swallowing, she found her voice and rasped, "As long as we don't get caught."

Jill beamed and pressed against Mac's front, taking away the bag of food and dumping it on a chair to her right. Her other hand reached up to thread through thick brown locks and she walked them backwards until Jill slipped on top of her desk. Mac assisted by reaching down and hiking up the pencil skirt Jill had on to accommodate her resting between the lawyer's parted knees.

Angling her head down, Mac pressed their lips together before sweeping her tongue out and requesting Jill's permission to deepen the kiss. The lawyer groaned and parted her lips, stomach clenching at the feel and taste of Mac. Both hands threaded through Mac's hair while Mac's grip on the blonde's hips tightened.

The skirt left little room for Jill to maneuver and alleviate the pressure that was building. Frustrated she shifted causing Mac to pull back, sucking in a lungful of air in the process. "Baby," she panted, "you're at work, we…"

"I know," Jill groaned, feeling her stomach still fluttering and a heaviness settle between her legs. "I really want to though."

Mac pressed their foreheads together and pecked Jill's swollen lips. "Me too, but if you come over tonight I'll take care of you."

"Promise?" Jill whimpered against full lips.

"You didn't kill me after our first night together…" Mac teased.

Jill groaned, but nodded. MacKenzie succeeded the other night and rocked Jill's world.

The lawyer had never had complaints and she regularly outlasted her partners. More often than not, Jill thought they lacked in that department, but MacKenzie had kept up and kept Jill going for longer than she thought she was capable.

"You performed adequately," Jill husked refusing to give Mac that much power.

"I'll offer a repeat or an encore of the other night if you come early enough." Mac kissed up Jill's jaw line along her left side, swept her tongue along the shell of Jill's ear before sucking on the upper part of her ear lobe, mindful of the diamond stud resting just below her lips.

"Deal," the lawyer groaned and fisted the jean clad ass of the woman working her over.

"Bernhardt," a cold voice barked from the entryway.

Jill's head snapped up and she groaned at the vision of her boss standing just inside of her office, hands on narrow hips and shooting daggers at her and Mac.

"Fuck," Jill hissed, causing Mac to pull Jill to her feet and fix the lawyer's skirt before turning around to greet their unexpected visitor.

Mac sent the small Asian woman a winning smile and introduced herself, "Hi, MacKenzie St. Hill."

Denise covered half the distance of the office and stopped short of accepting the hand in greeting. Instead, the woman folded her arms across her chest and snapped, "Acting District Attorney Denise Kwon, Jill's boss." Denise's eyes narrowed as she dug into the blonde, "I warned you. Do you honestly think fucking anymore defense attorneys on your desk is going to win you any points?"

"We weren't…" Jill tried to defend herself and her less than professional actions.

"Save it," Denise stopped her.

Mac's shoulders squared and she stepped more fully in front of the blonde. "Sex on desks?" Mac asked and turned her head to look at Jill over her shoulder. The lawyer's chest and neck were flushed. She turned her attention back to Denise and offered another sweet smile. "Not what we were doing. We were discussing plans to have Jill come to my place tonight and I'm not a lawyer."

Denise rolled her eyes and Mac chattered along, "I also brought dinner, probably enough to share, if you'd care to stay?" Mac's offer was genuine and she could see the uncertainty creep into Denise's eyes.

"Mac," Jill hissed behind her.

Ignoring the lawyer behind her, Mac watched Denise turn on her heel and stride from the office, Jill's door slamming closed in the wake of her departure. Dutifully, Mac stifled the smirk and turned to Jill.

She couldn't get a read on the blonde, so she decided to keep it light, "So how many people have you had sex with in your office, or rather, on your desk?"

Jill's mouth opened and closed a few seconds before she looked away from her girlfriend and buttoned up her blouse.

"Jill," Mac said softly as an arm settled gently on her left shoulder. Jill looked up, somewhat confused by the calm features looking back at her. "You aren't a saint. Trust me, it's not a surprise. I'm far from one too…"

"Just what the hell is that supposed to mean?" Jill spat as her arms folded across her chest and she took a step back.

Mac's mouth snapped shut as she registered the immediate shift in Jill. Quickly, she ran through what she said, playing back her words and then blushed. "And I so just stuck my foot down my throat."

A thin eyebrow rose curiously.

She licked her lips and back peddled, "What I meant, in better words, is that, I'm aware you have had sex before. Just like me. So, it's okay, I'm not upset with your boss, who is kinda scary by the way, or about the sex in here."

"I care that you would be upset because?" Jill snapped.

Mac's hands buried deep in her jeans pockets as she spoke softly, "You just looked…I was trying to let you know that it doesn't bother me…and really not everything's about me, but…I just…uhm…" she stopped talking as Jill's jaw became rigid. "I can go kick her ass if that'll help me out here, Jill. I don't want to fight and I'm going to continue to try and talk about this until you start talking to me," Mac half-pleaded taking a tentative step towards her girlfriend. "So, I mean, for me, 'cause I can't tell what you're thinking or feeling right now and I'd like to know so that maybe I can forget this conversation and focus more on making you uh, making sure that you're treated the way that you deserve."

"So, that wasn't you calling me a slut?" Jill asked, softening her tone slightly at the pleading look Mac was giving her.

The younger woman shook her head in response. "Absolutely not."

Jill took a tentative step closer and pulled Mac to her. "Denise is a bitch."

Mac nodded and slipped her arms around Jill's waist. The blonde was still rigid and Mac's lips curled up on the right side as she tried to sooth the woman in front of her, "I saw that." She kissed the tip of Jill's nose and said, "Why don't we eat and I'll let you get back to work. Then, if you're still up for it, come over tonight, so I can make you forget the persons' names you've slept with previously." She wiggled her eyebrows and sighed when Jill finally relaxed against her.

The lawyer laid her head on Mac's shoulder and nodded.


	10. As I Settle

**Ch. 10 – As I Settle**

"You have no right looking that smug," Cindy pouted while she ran her hand down the length of Ozzie's back. She and Mac had taken the eager mutt on an early morning jog, ending up at one of the small local parks close to her apartment. Currently, they were sprawled out near a small cropping of trees. Cindy was grateful for the additional warmth of Ozzie snuggled up along her leg and Mac's offered windbreaker.

"You still can't be upset about this morning?" Mac wiggled her eyebrows and didn't let the smirk she'd been wearing all morning fall from her lips. Between last night with Jill and then this morning, Mac really couldn't have been happier. Things were going exactly like she wanted them to and to make things that much better, work was actually less of a time suck than she had anticipated when she'd accepted the position.

Shaking her head, Cindy groaned, "I never, ever wanted to see that much of either of you. I love you both, but that was…" The reporter shuddered at the memory of walking in on Jill bent over the couch.

"Please, I'm better than Starbucks for a morning pick me up," Mac snickered and bumped shoulders with Cindy. The grumble from her friend did make her let up, "For what it's worth, I didn't think you'd be there that early. I thought I had at least another ten or fifteen minutes."

"I'll get over it," Cindy assured and let it drop, figuring that she'd find a way to scrub it from her memory eventually. "So, in the interest of a topic change and since it was pretty obvious how you and Jill are doing, which I'm thankful for and again I'm sorry, what do you have going on today?"

Mac shook her head, "Not a lot really, I have a few reports for my boss to get out before five and then uh, laundry, maybe. You?"

"I'm on standby until Linds calls for the raid," Cindy answered.

"Cool. How are you and Lindsay by the way? You don't really talk about her, no, okay, you talk about her, but you haven't really commented on your relationship. Things good?" Mac wondered. It, Cindy's relationship with the terse inspector, made Mac curious and she had a hard time seeing how the two worked. Where Cindy was bright, a little bubbly and quick on her feet, Lindsay seemed to be stand-offish, a little temperamental and calculated. The melding of the personalities was, admittedly, a little hard to swallow.

Cindy quirked an eyebrow at her and asked in return, "And you're curious because?"

Mac shrugged and replied honestly, "Because on paper, you two intrigue me. I can tell you're happy, but I don't know how Lindsay figures into that and how you two work."

"How do you and Jill work?" Cindy responded.

"I think that's apples and turnips, Augie. My relationship is new and we're still working off our chemistry," she wiggled her eyebrows and snickered as the redhead blushed. "Honestly, we have a similar sense of humor. She's really, deceptively smart and keeps me on my toes, it's a turn on. Oh, and she likes my dog. Huh, Ozzie?" Mac cooed and scratched behind the ears that perked up at the sound of his name.

"Jill is. She's a great person to have in your corner," Cindy said, settling back on her hands and stretching her legs out in front of her.

"I can tell. She's got…there is, I don't want you to tell me, if she wants me to know, she'll say something eventually, but she'll occasionally get these looks when I talk about my family. I'm guessing her's wasn't that great?" Mac mirrored Cindy's position and joined her friend in looking out over the park as some of the morning fog began to burn off.

"I'll just say that I've never had the displeasure of meeting her family and I'm better for it," Cindy answered, knowing that it wouldn't really appease Mac, but Jill's story was Jill's to tell.

Nodding, Mac let the tightening coil of anger sit in her stomach at the implication. She wasn't sure what happened, but she'd been around long enough to know that whatever 'it' was was probably abusive and that never set well with Mac. Instead, she said, "That's fair. I'm happy with our glacierly pace."

Cindy's head titled as she looked at her friend. "Why are you taking it so slow?"

MacKenzie chewed her lower lip before answering, choosing her explanation with caution, "Because I think it's the right thing to do and you still haven't answered my question. I haven't forgotten."

"Lindsay is…amazing, frustrating and just about perfect." Cindy's lazy smile spread a little wider. "I mean, you know how she is publicly, but she's different at home."

"So, Jill was saying something about you not wanting to move in with her?" Mac pressed a little knowing that if she didn't no one else would probably bring it up unless it was to argue. "'Cause even being away from you for a while, doesn't mean you have changed in some ways. I think you jumping in to the deep end is one of those things that is still inherently Cindy Thomas."

"It is. I would, but…Lindsay wants it on her terms, you know? Her place, her way and when we do take that step, I want it to be on our terms, not hers," Cindy admitted.

"And telling her this…" Mac started.

"Would probably start a fight," Cindy cut her off.

Mac squinted at her friend, sizing her up and sighed, "Augie, I say this with as much love as I can muster, but do your Daddy a favor, put on those big girl underoos and talk to her."

"Hey…"

Mac put a hand over her mouth and shut her up. "Michelle and I broke up because she was doing what you are doing. You're keeping these things away from Lindsay when I'm pretty sure you rejecting the woman's request is doing her more harm." Mac watched Cindy's eyes dart to the ground and knew she was right. She removed her hand and continued, "If you want to live with her, then do it, but talk about it instead of just shutting her down."

The reporter's brow furrowed as she shook her head. "Right, because trying to explain this to the woman that's been mean to you because she thought we had slept together will end well? And besides, why are you defending her?"

"Whoa, she thought we slept together?" Mac frowned. "That's skeevy, but you should tell her because you need to tell her and also, I'm not defending her, I'm just saying, I've been in her position. It sucks, Augie. Tell her and make the decisions together."

Cindy opened her mouth to protest. Mac stopped her with a raised eyebrow. "You suck," was the only thing the reporter offered to the rest of the conversation.

* * *

The T.V. played quietly, but the sound from one of Ed's shows carried down the hall. Claire tuned it out as she looked at her boys passed out in their bedroom. Their thin clammy forms huddled under the blankets of their respective beds.

It had started late last night, about an hour after she'd gotten home from work; Ben was the first one in to complain of not being able to get warm enough. A quick check of the boy and Claire had promptly given him some children's Tylenol and sent him back to bed with an extra blanket. She was in the living room when Ed had wheeled out with Michael in his lap, both with the same miserable look her little Ben had been wearing an hour earlier.

At ten this morning none of her boys were any better, Ed was sacked out on the couch, looking more miserable than she had seen him in a while. The boys were in bed and Claire was left to play nurse maid and try her hardest to not catch whatever bug they had. She'd been overdosing on vitamin C since last night and had even made a run to the store for more juice and Nyquil for her patients.

Satisfied that they were settled for at least another hour, she cracked their bedroom door and headed to the living room to check on her husband. Ed was propped up on the arm of the couch, his head resting against the back as he watched an episode of Law & Order. "Who did it?" Claire asked as she sunk into the recliner to the right of the couch.

"I think it was the teenager," Ed croaked and cracked a grin. "I think they make it too easy."

Claire smiled. "Probably, but how are you feeling?"

"Like I went on a weekend bender and just came up for air," Ed answered, his face souring as he swallowed.

"Throat?" Claire was out of her seat and perched on the edge of the couch in seconds, her fingers resting against Ed's neck just under his jaw. "You're swollen just like your sons. What did you guys get into?"

Ed shook his head as he pulled her hands away. "No clue, maybe they brought something home from school."

"It's a petri dish full of children," Claire agreed.

"You okay not being at work?" Ed teased lightly before resting his sweaty forehead against the couch.

"Yep, Lindsay's swinging by soon to drop off some files that I can sort through. She, Warren and Tom are working with vice on a raid of the Do boys," Claire answered him knowing he still liked to hear some of what his old colleagues were working on.

"Who in vice?" he asked predictably.

"Whileneck in vice, Denise and Tom are the organizers." Claire shifted and pressed against him to get more comfortable.

"Steve's all right. A bit of a jerk when he was in uniform, but he shaped up okay. If Lindsay and Jacobi are there, they shouldn't have problems." Ed ran a hand over Claire's arm before tucking it back under the blanket.

"I'll tell Lindsay when she stops by. Rest up, baby," Claire murmured as she kissed her husband's heated forehead. Ed's eyes were closed and his breathing was evening out before she made it back to her chair. Taking the remote from the coffee table, she lowered the volume on the T.V. and was getting ready to boot up her computer when Lindsay's unique rasp sounded from the entry way.

"Claire, where are you?" Lindsay called out.

Standing, the doctor headed towards the sound of her friend's voice and met her at the entrance to the kitchen. "Here."

"Hey," Lindsay smiled. "You look tired."

"Hmm, thanks you look full of sunshine and light yourself," Claire deadpanned and rolled her eyes.

"Sorry. Do you need anything? I can make a run to the store or something before I head out," the inspector offered, hooking a thumb over her shoulder.

"No, I think I'm pretty well covered. Did you bring my files?" Claire asked eyeing the backpack strap on Lindsay's shoulder.

"I did. I think I grabbed everything that you asked for. If I missed anything, Jill said to call her and she'll get it to you." Lindsay followed Claire into the kitchen and set the pack on the kitchen counter. "Can I do anything? Cindy said that if you need her to call. I know she's got a bunch of stuff to do at the office, but I also know her editor owes her a favor or two."

"I'll keep that in mind. Honestly, I should be okay. Besides the raid, what kind of craziness are you and Jacobi getting into?" Claire turned towards the coffee that she'd made a little while ago, thankful that the carafe was insulated and kept the brew warm while she was taking care of the boys. Snagging two cups out of the strainer in the sink, she fixed herself and Lindsay a cup.

Sitting on a stool, Lindsay answered, "We were going to swing by the residence hall and talk to a few people. Jacobi and I had sat through about a week's worth of video and we got Amy going in to the building from her parent's house, but there is nothing there for her leaving. It's been bugging the hell out of us."

Claire sat down next to the brunette and slid over the cup she'd fixed for her. "What are you thinking?"

Lindsay shrugged as she took a grateful sip. "I don't know. I mean, her coming in was helpful, at least we know she got there so it narrows down her timeline, but no shady characters in or out and we never saw her exit the building."

The doctor's eyebrow quirked and she asked, "Any viable suspects from other residents?"

Lindsay's lips pursed before she shook her head. "Nobody that I'd really look twice at. Whoever killed her – Claire, they took an axe to her and put her in at least two suitcases."

"I'd still take a look. We've seen people that we wouldn't think a second thought about do far worse than that," Claire offered as a reminder as she played with the rim of her cup. "Lot of anger."

"But the way she was disposed of…?" Lindsay argued.

"Which is why I'd look at the people there. From a logistics stand point or even a forensics stand point, it's a nightmare to go after someone with an axe. They would have had to surprise her…"

"Assuming that the axe is the cause of the death and not the means of disposal," the inspector interjected.

"If she was dead before hand, but I can't tell. I'd lay good money on you not being able to find her leaving the building because when she left the building, she was already in those suitcases." Claire took another drink of her coffee and watched her friend work through what she just proposed.

As she settled on an idea, Lindsay joked, "You're either the smartest woman I know or the scariest, Claire. I'll just thank God that you're on our side and not on the other."

"Go, see if you and Jacobi can figure anything out. Also," Claire said as she stood and followed Lindsay to the front door, "be careful on the raid. I don't really need to get any phone calls about you."

Saluting, Lindsay walked backwards down the walkway until Claire shut the front door.

* * *

Jacobi looked at the yellow Post-it stuck to the palm of his hand and back up at the brown plastic placard bolted to the wall across from the elevators he and Lindsay just stepped off from. He watched as she pulled an elastic band from around her wrist and tied her brown mop of hair back into a high pony tail. "Getting serious?" he queried, a small smile tugging at his lips.

Lindsay just shrugged. "Always serious," she deadpanned and shot her partner a wink. "What unit is Shue in, again?"

"One-thirty-two," Jacobi answered and pointed down the hall towards the back of the building.

"Let's get this over with. We have to be back at the station for prep on the raid in an hour. Tom'll bench us if we're late," Lindsay groused as they headed down the brightly lit hallway. Her and Jacobi both scanned the walls and ceilings, taking note of the cameras posted at the corners of corridor. The acoustic tile ceiling, Lindsay also noted, wasn't in the best of shape. Brown water stains and the occasional chunk were missing from every other tile that she saw.

"You think missing this thing with him _isn't_ a good idea?" her partner asked.

She shot him a look as he scanned the numbers on the doors they passed. They were at one-twenty-two when she answered, "I don't really mind, but if they're pulling in Tucker's team for S.W.A.T. then I may reconsider. He's not playing with a full deck."

Jacobi snorted. "You mean to tell me you didn't think he walked on water after tackling the guy with the explosive vest?" Jacobi wiggled his eyebrows and watched as Lindsay shook her head. The incident that had Tucker walking on water with the rest of the yahoos from his department was a little less than a year old. Some idiot with delusions of grandeur had made a series of pipe bombs and strapped them to a fishing vest. He'd, Taylor Silva, had walked out to Fisherman's Warf causing mass panic. The negotiator had talked Silva down enough they were able to get most of the people to safety.

Then one of the hostages had decided to play hero spooking the nut job. Silva had clammed back up after that and it took another hour for Tucker's team to infiltrate the restaurant Silva had holed up in. In a last ditch effort to get the detonator away from the man's hand, John Tucker had jumped him, trying to wrestle the detonator away. Silva had managed to push it anyhow, but the man hadn't wired the vest right.

For that Tucker was a damn hero and Lindsay and he had been trying to figure out how attacking the man with the explosives was a good idea. Even on their best days, the days when the duo felt as good as they could and on their game, would they think of doing what Tucker did. They had discussed it, it wasn't so much that he threw himself on the bomb, it was the fact that one of the snipers had a clean shot and Tucker told the shooter to stand down.

That breach of protocol for the Wild Bill moment could have gone a helluva lot worse in their mutual assessment.

"He was stupid and lucky and could have killed a lot more people than he helped," Lindsay grumbled as they stopped in front of Shue's door. Jacobi leaned forward and heard the T.V. Stepping back, he nodded and wrapped on the door.

They waited quietly as footsteps sounded and the tell-tale clink of a security chain was slid out of its track. "Yeah?" was the greeting they received from the burly, goateed man standing in front of them.

A thin eyebrow rose on the slim inspector as she asked, "Derek Shue?"

"Yeah, can I help you?" he asked looking down at the shields prominently displayed on their hips.

Jacobi pushed passed him and walked into the small efficiency. Lindsay followed suit and allowed Shue to close the door behind them. "We wanted to talk to you about Amy Delgado," Jacobi spoke up, his gaze sweeping around the room of a man he thought would more than likely stay a bachelor for the rest of his life.

"Did you guys find her?" the man's eyes skittered between the two people in his apartment.

"We did," Lindsay answered. "You haven't heard?"

Derek shook his head and folded his arms across his chest. "Talked to Destiny and Tiff last week. Hadn't heard anything beyond that. I'm guessing it isn't good?"

Lindsay shook her head.

"I'm sorry to say that Ms. Delgado is dead," Jacobi supplied.

Tears welled in Derek's eyes and Lindsay empathized, "We were wondering if you could answer a few questions…"

"Where'd you find her?" Derek choked out, his hand going to cover his mouth.

"Uhm," Jacobi licked his lips and looked to Lindsay. His partner shrugged and he answered honestly, "We found parts of her. Part of her body was discovered enclosed in a suitcase in a dumpster."

"Which dumpster?" Derek wondered as he swiped at his eyes and moved left to rest against the corner of the wall that separated out the little kitchen in his apartment and the living area.

"One a few miles from here," Lindsay answered the question and followed up with one of her own, "When was the last time that you saw the victim?"

Derek swallowed and scratched the back of his neck. "The day she got back from her parents. She was doing some laundry and I, uh, well, I usually helped her carry it to the laundry room and back up to her and Tiff's place."

Jacobi's brow knitted together. "Mrs. Delgado's stated that Amy did her laundry at home over the break."

Derek's lips pursed and he looked between the two inspectors standing in his living room. His right hand slid down and gripped the neck of the axe.

Lindsay barely got the warning off before the young man began swinging.


	11. Sinking Like Sand

**Ch. 11 – Sinking Like Sand**

Mac's left hand ached.

Throbbed even.

It also looked like it wasn't going to let up anytime soon.

Jill's grip tightened a little more and MacKenzie kept her mouth shut. Wincing only slightly as Jill loosened up and then tightened it again. The pattern took her a minute to figure out, but she did, finally. Every time the plastic surgeon's needle poked through Lindsay Boxer's skin, Jill's grip strengthened.

Sure, she probably wasn't in as much pain as Lindsay, but at least the cop was getting good drugs.

Mac was with Jill when the hospital called to inform them that as one of the emergency contacts on Lindsay's record, her presence was requested. Jill had just given her keys over to one of the attendants at the parking garage to have it washed. Mac had stopped in with lunch and seemed to be at the right place at the right time.

"Where's Cindy?" Lindsay asked almost completely unaffected by the doctor working on her.

Jill opened her mouth to answer when the rapid click of heels against linoleum drew their attention to the cracked door.

"Lindsay? Jill?" Cindy called out as she rounded the corner and pushed the door open to enter the room.

"Daddy?" Cindy looked at her questioningly. "Okay," Cindy's attention snapped to Lindsay in the hospital bed and Mac watched her do a quick assessment of her girlfriend. "What happened?" Cindy pushed the railing down on Lindsay's free side and pulled up a stool to sit on.

"Hi." Lindsay's grin was only slightly sheepish.

"No. You aren't 'hi'ing me. What happened and why does it look like someone tried to chop off your arm?" Cindy barked and pointed at the gash that was being stitched up.

Turning to the doctor, Lindsay apologized, "Sorry for this one. She's a little crazed."

"Crazed?" Cindy snapped and Jill snickered. "Jill calls me and says that she's on the way to the hospital because you were attacked by some psycho with an axe. I'm not crazed. I'm pissed off and worried, so start explaining, Linds." Cindy's head snapped in Jill's direction and she asked, "Did anyone call Claire?"

"I did," Jill answers. "I told her to stay home. This one isn't in mortal danger so…" The lawyer tried for teasing, but earned nothing but a scowl from the prone brunette and the agitated reporter.

"I had stopped by earlier. She still has three sick people at home," Lindsay spoke up. "I had stopped there before picking Jacobi up at the Hall. We went over to Amy's building to have a chat with a few of the people there, trying to follow up on some information," the inspector explained squeezing Cindy's hand. "So we get to that Shue kid's unit. He was cool. Invited us in. We were chatting when Jacobi pointed out an inconsistency in the story. Next thing I know there's an axe." Lindsay shrugged and winced.

"Inspector, if you could not move around so much while I'm giving you stitches," the doctor grumbled.

"Sorry," she said softly before continuing her story, "It was over after that. Shue went a little psycho, grabbed the axe and started swinging. Caught me in the arm. I was spun and smacked my head off the desk." She pointed to the bandaged area along her right temple. "Jacobi put a slug in him and is watching him upstairs until some uni's get here for regular detail."

"An axe? He came at you with an axe?" Cindy repeated. Mac wasn't sure if it was to her friend's benefit to hear, but she still kept her mouth shut.

Lindsay just nodded as the doctor applied a covering to the stitches. Cindy's face palled a little more.

"Inspector," the doctor broke the quiet softly, "I'm going to get the nurse to get your discharge papers and instructions for wound care."

The four women watched the man scurry from the room and the silence settled back over them. Jill finally let Mac's hand go to take up a seat on the side of Lindsay the doctor had worked on.

No one expected Jill's hard swat to the outside of Lindsay's thigh. "I'm going to kill you!"

Lindsay shrank back and Cindy swatted the other side.

"Hey!" Lindsay protested. "I just got stitches."

"And you scared the shit out of us!" Cindy shot back.

Mac looked over her shoulder and saw the nurse standing in the doorway with the discharge paperwork and a white paper bag.

"Augie," Mac finally spoke up and pointed to the man standing in the doorway.

"Hello ladies, I'm Nurse Pickard. If you're done abusing the patient, I'd like to discharge her," the tall, brown haired man grinned and strode into the room. Stepping behind Jill, he handed a clipboard over the blonde's head to Lindsay and instructed, "I just need you to sign the top sheet and the rest of that is yours. There are aftercare instructions and a prescription for an antibiotic and additional pain meds if you need them."

Lindsay shuffled through the paperwork and noticed the work release. "Not fit for duty?" she questioned looking up and glaring at the younger man.

"Dr. Eckovich put you off work for five days and it's limited release for another two weeks. That gash on your arm is pretty deep. He didn't want you to take the risk of reopening it. He's made sure to send everything to a Tom Hogan. Also, since the look you're sending me may actually kill me, I'll tell you know that someone needs to stay with you for the next twenty-four hours. Is there a boyfriend or husband that we can call?" The nurse smiled what Mac assumed worked on a lot of women and he was delivering information they didn't like.

Unfortunately for him, it didn't work on any of the women present. "Girlfriend, buddy and Linds," Cindy looked pained as she let her girlfriend know, "I still have to cover the raid and get back to the paper…"

"I have depositions and the final bit of trial prep…" Jill whined.

"Uh, I can…Lindsay, if you don't mind, you can come stay at mine until Cindy's done at work," Mac offered quietly.

"So you'll have someone to watch you. Great," Nurse Pickard said still slightly red from the look Cindy gave him. He took the offered clipboard back and handed MacKenzie the white paper bag. "There's some pain meds that she'll need in four hours in there and some extra dressings for her head and arm. Have a good day, ladies."

The four watched him leave before Lindsay started in on a protest, "I can go home by myself. I'm fine."

"No," Jill and Cindy both stopped the inspector.

"Really, Lindsay," Mac interrupted their bickering. "It's really no big deal. I have work I can do. You need to relax and keep both of our girlfriends from freaking out further."

"You have your bike," Jill reminded Mac.

MacKenzie looked at Cindy and they both nodded. "I'll take Cindy's car. You and Augie can take my bike. She's good on the Duc."

Cindy tossed Mac the keys without protest and Mac tossed the keys to the Duc to her. "Helmets are locked on the back."

"Thanks," Cindy offered to MacKenzie before leaning in and kissing Lindsay's pouting lips. "Be nice and quit pouting, I'll be by to pick you up later."

"Cindy," Lindsay whined as the redhead and reporter got up to leave.

"You're going with Mac," Jill stopped her. She turned to her girlfriend and said, "I'll come by after work?"

Mac smiled and pulled Jill in for a kiss. "I'd be thrilled."

The two brunettes watched their girlfriends leave before Mac turned to Lindsay and held up Cindy's keys. "Ready to go?"

Rolling her eyes, Lindsay stood and slowly followed Mac out of the hospital.

* * *

Jill propped her head in her hand as her body curled right to face the door as MacKenzie came bouncing back through. Her girlfriend was quite the vision, bouncing into the room just as she'd left it, naked, when Jill's stomach began a low gurgling. They were both hungry and had already worked off enough energy for the night after sending Lindsay home with Cindy.

Mac held up two bottles of water, a package of crackers, pepperoni and cheese. "So," the darker woman said as she slid on the bed and pressed her back against Jill's naked torso, "I realized that I need to go grocery shopping. Without spending a half hour or more cooking, I bring you offerings of meat and cheese."

"Hmm," Jill hummed and leaned down to nip at Mac's hip. Groaning, Mac squirmed at the attention. She laved at a section of brown skin pinched between her teeth before releasing it to say, "I'm good with that."

"Here." Mac handed off one of the bottles of water and began making little sandwich crackers. She gave the first one she made to Jill. It wasn't the most ideal snack, but it was either that or Pop Tarts. Mac's stomach didn't think the Pop Tarts were the way to go.

Sitting up, Jill took the snack and examined the layers of cracker, meat and cheese topped off with another cracker. She bit into it, her left hand cupping under chin to catch the crumbs.

Mac stuffed a whole one in her mouth and exaggerated her chewing as she watched Jill daintily eat. The grin spread over Jill's lips as Mac inched closer, the other woman's mouth still half full with food. The brunette made kissing noises through her mastication and Jill pulled back, shaking her head.

"Eww," Jill grimaced playfully, swatting away the searching hands.

Mac changed tact and gripped Jill's hips before pulling the blonde down towards her. She made short work of swallowing the rest of her snack and straddled Jill's thighs. Involuntarily, Jill tensed her legs and pushed up to meet the still slick center of her girlfriend. Both groaned at the contact.

Wiggling her eyebrows, Mac leaned down to run a tongue over a creamy skin and a flat stomach. Her left hand reached down to the floor, picking up a few slices of pepperoni. She places the two slices over Jill's hard nipples and looked up at her lover.

The amused grin Jill gave her was encouraging. Mac slowly worked her way up Jill's left breast, kissing, licking and sucking the underside of the small mound before running her tongue up to meet the piece of food she had placed earlier. Sucking into her mouth, she chewed quickly and worked her way over to the one on the right.

She pinched it between her teeth and traveled north, dragging the piece of meat over Jill's chest, up her neck and chin and offered it to the blonde beneath her. Lips closed around the food and pressed against her own. The younger woman's right hand swept down the lawyer's lean frame to slip between her thighs.

Jill groaned and bucked up into the touch. She swallowed the food she'd taken from MacKenzie and husked, "I didn't think pepperoni could be that sexy."

Laughing, Mac shrugged and worked her fingers over wet folds. She looked up and caught Jill's eyes. "You're amazing enough to make almost anything sexy."

"You've already gotten in my pants," Jill panted as a skilled set of fingers circled her clit and then dipped inside of her.

Mac shook her head, leaned down and kissed her way along Jill's neck. She worked around Jill's jaw and pressed her lips against parted, panted ones. She sucked the lawyer bottom lip into her mouth and massaged it with her tongue. The hips below her bucked as she squeezed Jill's clit. Letting the lip go with a pop, she looked down into dark blue eyes. "In your pants or not, I'm just stating a fact, councilor. You," Mac kissed her left cheek, "are," she kissed the right cheek, "amazing," she ended her declaration with a hard press of her lips to Jill's.

Jill's legs opened wider and Mac took the opportunity to reposition herself and sink three fingers into her lover. The pace she set was languid, dragging the digits out with meticulous care, wanting her lover to feel everything she was doing. Her thumb stretched up and circled the woman's clit.

Jill's right leg came up and wrapped around the back of Mac's thigh to press them closer together. Her stomach coiled in preparation for the release her body was swiftly approaching. "Mac," she breathed, canting her hips in rhythm to the long fingers filling her.

"Christ, Jill," Mac hissed at the nails raked down her back. She arched back and Jill took the opportunity to suck a dark mocha colored nipple into her mouth, nipping at the erect bud.

Mac's nipple fell from Jill's lips as she her body stiffened and she cried out her lover's name. Mac's left arm slipped behind Jill and held the woman against her as warm, thick fluid covered her right hand. Muscles grappled and pulsated around her fingers, sucking her in as Jill came underneath her.

Both women collapsed on the bed, Mac landing with most of her weight pressing Jill into the mattress. The blonde's right leg loosened around the body on top of her to rest lazily on the back of slick thighs. Mac's face pressed into the crook of Jill's neck, trying to gently ease her fingers out of her girlfriend's core.

Strong, thin fingers wrapped around her wrist stilling her movements. "Stay," Jill half panted and pleaded. "For a minute, please."

Mac could only nod and settled more firmly against her girl. They relaxed in the quiet of the room; Jill could feel and hear the steady heartbeat of the woman on top of her and melted. Slowly, she pulled Mac's hand from between her thighs and brought the damp hand up. Threading their fingers together, she let her tongue slip out to lap up her cum on Mac's hand.

The younger woman stirred at the sensation and ground her center against a hip bone. Laughing, Jill teased, "What's wrong, baby?"

Mac's head popped up and she squinted at the other woman.

Jill shook her hand free and ran it through thick dark locks. She leaned up and nipped at Mac's chin. "Let me take care of you," Jill whispered and flipped them over. Mac's whimper as she reversed their positions was all the consent she needed.

* * *

The morgue was unnaturally quiet as Cindy walked through as she usually did, as if she belonged there. For this particular Friday, she wasn't surprised that the morgue was lacking its usual buzz of staff and techs. After Claire had returned from taking care of the boys and recovering from her own bout of flu, she returned to a semi-functioning lab that her seeing red a good three days later. For the last three days, Claire had sent them to a training conference in Massachusetts.

The doctor hoped that they would be able to learn a little more and function better as a team. As it stood, Claire didn't have the time to try and train the people that should already know what to do. Cindy shook her head at the twenty minute rant the club was all subjected to the night Claire got back to work.

"Skipper," Claire greeted her first as she stepped through the doctor's office door. "How was your day?"

Cindy smiled and said, "Not too bad. Looking forward to the weekend though. My pieces for the paper are set for most of next week."

"Hey," Jill greeted and scooted over to make some room for Cindy to squeeze between herself and Lindsay.

Cindy eyed the rock glass in Jill's hand as she plopped down. "Hi yourself. How many of those have you helped yourself to?"

Lindsay leaned over and pecked Cindy on the cheek as she held up her own empty glass that once held the Glenlivet Claire favored and kept hidden in her office. "We've only had two…"

"Three," Claire corrected, smirking as she held up the half empty bottle. "We were getting an early start. Well, they were. I have to drive home in a half hour."

"I thought we were all going to Joe's?" Jill pouted as she held up her glass for Claire to freshen up.

Obliging, Claire poured another finger for her friend and then capped and stowed the bottle away in the model of the lung she had on top of the filing cabinet. "You may. I was going to go home and pass out. Having a skeleton crew here the last few days has left me little time there. I'd like to see my kids awake once this week."

"Ah, and what prompted the early start with buzzed and more buzzed here?" Cindy directed the question to Claire who sat across from her with an amused smirk. Lindsay threaded her left hand through Cindy's hair causing the reporter to roll her eyes indulgently. Lindsay always got a little handsy when she drank scotch.

"We got a conviction on my cases. Two convictions actually," Jill answered instead, beaming at the redhead before knocking back the rest of her drink. "And I'm not that buzzed."

"I'm not either, just right actually. Feel all warm and languid," Lindsay put her two cents in.

"Well then, it's been a good day all around." Cindy grabbed Lindsay's wandering hand and threaded their fingers together. She held tight and placed it in her lap, eyeing her girlfriend sporting a somewhat dopey grin.

"And I'm cleared to go back to work, fully functional," Lindsay reminded them. "I can get away from the desk."

"The wound healed up nice," Claire added. "They did a good job stitching you up. Your scar won't completely fade, but at least it will be a thin line instead of a big, wide one."

"Well then," Cindy leaned down and pulled out the bottle of tequila she had picked up on her way over and handed it off to Claire, "We'll save that for later."

"Oh, tequila," Jill and Lindsay both crowed and made a grab for the bottle that Claire quickly snatched out of their reach.

"We can crack it open another night." Claire glared at the two pouting adults. "Why the purchase?" she directed her attention to a blushing Cindy.

"Uhm, I just thought we'd celebrate is all, but you all started without me." Cindy patted the head of dark curly hair that rested on her shoulder.

"What are we celebrating Cindy Lou?" Jill asked and swung a leg over the reporters lap.

"Me taking up Lindsay's offer to move in with her…"

"What?" Lindsay's head snapped up to stare at her girlfriend.

Cindy shrugged. "Just thought we could try it on a trial basis. I have four months left on my lease and maybe I could stay there more often and see how we do."

"Awe," Claire and Jill cooed together.

"But…I was gonna…" Lindsay's mouth worked and then she snapped it shut. Her brow knitted together as she pouted, "I was going to see if you wanted look at a new place together. Maybe a two bedroom and make one an office for when you work from home?"

Cindy directed all of her attention at Lindsay, turning as much as she could towards the woman on her right to rest their foreheads together. "That's sounds frickin' awesome, Linds." She leaned in and pecked scotch coated lips.

"Can we go home and celebrate?" Lindsay whispered.

Cindy nodded and pulled away from her girlfriend. "What are you going to do, Jill?"

"I was going to try to cook for Mac…"

"You suck in the kitchen," Lindsay blurted and giggled.

The other two women laughed, but agreed with the inspector's assessment. Jill rolled her eyes, but conceded, "I do. So I'm thinking take out from Manuel's and then…" Cindy stopped the rest of what she knew to be very dirty things Jill was going share. The attorney wiggled her eyebrows, her eyes twinkling under the florescent lighting as Cindy glared.

"I don't need to hear that much," the reporter warned. "Between you glowing and Mac glowing…"

"We all get the picture, Jilly," Claire admonished.

"Hot, super hot sex," Lindsay finished up and held her hand up over Cindy's shoulder for her friend to slap.

"Some of the best sex ever," Jill couldn't help but needle her friend.

The four stilled as buzzing sounded in the room. Three sets of eyes turned towards Lindsay and the phone at her hip. "Boxer," came the near instinctually reply as Lindsay answered the phone. "Right…I'll meet you out in front of the hall in five, partner."

Three groans echoed off the wall as Lindsay disconnected, looked at her 'club' and said, "We've got a case ladies. Let's go."


End file.
